Russian President Vladimir Putin

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church wields enormous influence over more than 100 million believers and is a powerful ally to President Vladimir Putin ...

"He doesn't know how to do anything else. essentially a kind of Christian nationalist ideology as something to unify the Russian state. we are rightful heirs of Byzantium," "He cannot entirely alienate the church because he has embraced … His white headscarf was embossed with religious symbols and a gold cross signified his senior status within the church. "In a way, the aim of the ceasefire proposal was to force the Ukrainian army and politicians to reject it in view of the Ukrainian public," [believers across Europe and the United States switching their allegiances.](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/18/world/europe/ukraine-war-russian-orthodox-church.html) [financial sanctions from the UK](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-sanctions-russian-linked-to-forced-transfers-and-adoptions) and a warning from Catholic Pope Francis, [against becoming an "altar boy" for Vladimir Putin.](https://edition.cnn.com/2022/05/04/europe/pope-francis-patriarch-kirill-ukraine-invasion-intl/index.html) [Putin's proxies establish his power across Africa](/news/2023-01-11/wagner-group-mercenaries-in-central-african-republic/101828556), the Russian Orthodox Church is [vying for influence across the continent](https://www.trtworld.com/opinion/how-the-russian-orthodox-church-is-vying-for-influence-in-africa-57377), establishing dioceses in Cairo and Johannesburg in 2021. [presidential property office awarded a $43.4-million contract](https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/05/21/kremlin-is-spending-43-million-renovate-imperial-mansion-orthodox-patriarch-a65667) for renovations to allow Patriarch Kirill to work and reside on the palatial grounds. [with Kirill once describing Putin's ascension to power as "a miracle of God"](https://www.forbes.com/2009/02/20/putin-solzhenitsyn-kirill-russia-opinions-contributors_orthodox_church.html?sh=6590a2763bf9). [accused of profiteering in the import of millions of dollars' worth of duty-free tobacco and alcohol](https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/ree/vol20/iss6/3/) in the mid-1990s, critics pushed for more transparency about the institution's shadowy finances.