The “Russian World” – a politically dangerous idea
by Johannes Reimer, Evangelical Focus:
The Russian Orthodox leader, Patriarch Kirill, defines Russki Mir as a “special civilization which needs to be preserved”. He has become the main promoter of this nationalist idea.
More than 400 Ukrainian Orthodox priests under the authority of the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church have called for international condemnation of their Patriarch, Kirill, because of his adherence to Russian nationalism and his tacit support of the invasion of Ukraine.
One of those priests, Andrey Pinchuk, stated that the war in Ukraine is a direct result of the doctrine of Russki Mir in the Russian Orthodox Church. He called this doctrine a “type of church fascism.” [1]
Russki Mir means “the Russian world.” A term with deep historical roots dating back to medieval times, it is used today to describe Russians as an ethnic entity and a global community, not limited to Russian territory [2]. Historically the term described “the Russian state and empire as a distinctive civilizational space.” [3]
Used already in Medieval sources, for example, to describe the civilization of ancient Rus as a Russian world, Russki mir was widely used by Pan-Slavic authors since the 1870s capturing a world inhabited by Slavic tribes united in Orthodox faith, culture and mentality [4]. The Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate has been associated with this vision for centuries.
The idea of Russianness as a definition of identity re-emerged soon after the collapse of the Soviet Union, which left ethnic Russians and Russian speakers as a minority in all the newly formed independent states. Amidst this dissolution of national ties among people of Russian ethnicity, the idea of Russki Mir as “a spiritual, cultural and social frame of reference for a civilized society” was rediscovered. [5]
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