ABSTRACT
The rivalry between the two major Orthodox churches – Moscow and Kyiv patriarchates – took on a distinctive shape after the Euromaidan Revolution, the Russian annexation of Crimea, and the ongoing war in Eastern Ukraine. On the one hand, post-Euromaidan Ukrainian political elites, under the leadership of then-President Poroshenko, invested heavily in religion as a pillar and unifying factor of the nation. On the other hand, a historical fusion between Orthodox Christianity and Russian nationalism manifested itself amidst the prevalence of “Russian world” discourse in Ukraine. The top-down elite discourse over the role of religion in Ukrainian state and societal life had divergent replications on the grassroots level. On the one hand, a typical motivation narrative for interconfessional changes was the responses of priests to the tragedies of war, which generated antagonism among the population. The war in eastern Ukraine was a triggering factor for some parishioners to choose loyalty to the Kyivan church over the person of local priest.
