La fine della Chiesa ortodossa russa ‘post-sovietica’

The End of the ‘Post-Soviet’ Russian Orthodox Church. The war that Russia unleashed on 24 February 2022 across Ukraine marks the end of a long period of optimism and peace in Europe, dating back to the end of the Cold War. Indeed, the thirty years following the fall of the USSR were not entirely peaceful: the wars in the Balkans, Chechnya, and the Russian invasions of Georgia in 2008 and the Donbas and Crimea in 2014 were clear signs that the end of the Cold War had not brought perpetual peace to Europe. The bombing of Ukrainian cities, the influx of Ukrainian refugees into European cities and the economic war, fought with sanctions on the one hand and cuts in gas supplies on the other, marked a turning point. For the Russian Orthodox Church, 24 February 2022 also marks a point of no return: the end of its post-soviet identity. The article briefly traces the processes and events that led to this point and offers a reflection on the consequences of the profound changes the Russian Orthodox Church is experiencing today.