Abstract This article examines the evolution of Russia’s traditional values agenda in the context of the Russia–Ukraine war, focusing on its domestic radicalization and international projection through the Russian Orthodox Church. Domestically, the agenda has fostered repressive policies and an ideological framing of societal challenges, deflecting blame onto Western influences and internal “foreign agents.” Internationally, the war has disrupted Russia’s ties with Western conservative networks but strengthened its appeal in the Global South. As Russia pretends to develop a global counter-model to Western liberal democracy, it wants to be recognized as the leader of what we call the “Moralist International,” a transnational network of actors united by conservative values. The analysis highlights the paradoxical reliance of Russia’s anti-Western rhetoric on Western conservative ideas, revealing a fragile ideological foundation.
Abstract This article discusses how the invasion has affected the Russian Orthodox Church’s approach to Belarus and Belarusians. After 2022, the prior dominant position of fraternity has been replaced by paternalism. This shift is illustrated by the growing prominence of the triune nation narrative. It claims the existence of a pan-Russian nation which includes Orthodox Slavs from Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. Ian Klinke saw this narrative as an expression of paternalism, but, considering its recent radicalization, it seems more suitable to talk about a parent (the Russian Church) not looking after its own child (the Belarusian flock) but rather, symbolically murdering it, hence the metaphoric notion of infanticide. The new interpretation questions the subjectivity of the Belarusian nation and the sovereignty of its state. Belarus, although praised for being the good, reliable brother (or the obedient child), is destined for the same fate as Ukraine, that is, to dissolve into the big community of russkiy narod, that is, the Russian people.
