When Vladimir Putin recently announced the annexation of four regions of Ukraine that were purported to have voted in favor of joining Russia, he did so in what’s been described as an “unhinged rant.” In this wide-ranging and often incoherent talk, he blamed the West, not just for supporting the right of Ukraine to maintain its independence, but also for what he described as a “satanic” view of the world.

This would appear to raise the confrontation between Russia and Ukraine to a whole new level of conflict. Now it wasn’t just a fight over territory, but over righteousness and civilization itself.

Of course, Putin wasn’t the first to cast the war in these religious terms. It was previously portrayed this way by his comrade and co-conspirator in bellicose language, Patriarch Kirill, the titular leader of the Russian Orthodox Church.

On March 5, 2022, at the outset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Patriarch delivered a sermon on what is known as Forgiveness Sunday in the Russian Orthodox tradition. In it, he portrayed the battle in Ukraine as not just a mundane military encounter, but a conflict of “metaphysical significance,” in which the existential forces of good and darkness were contesting.

Kirill, and now Putin, have raised the stakes in what was initially described as a military operation. It now appears to be something of a holy war.

A war that the Spiritual Justice Warriors of Ukraine are winning, both temporally and spiritually.

Glory to Ukraine!

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