Holy war games State Duma lawmaker accuses exiled anti-war priests of assaulting Russia’s ‘spiritual shield’

Western schemes to unravel Russia’s spiritual fabric have reached new depths, according to lawmaker Yana Lantratova, chair of the State Duma’s Public and Religious Associations Committee. At a plenary session on Tuesday, Lantratova described religion as Russia’s “spiritual shield” in the war against Ukraine and warned that European intelligence agencies are using exiled priests to corrupt the nation’s holy order. She singled out Mir Vsem (“Peace to All”), an organization founded by dissident priests that assists other clergymen persecuted for opposing the invasion of Ukraine. Meduza summarizes Agentstvo’s reporting on Lantratova’s plenary remarks.

“Religion and faith have become integral to the ‘special military operation,’ a pillar of morale, a source of strength, a shield against despair and evil,” Yana Lantratova declared from the State Duma’s podium on Tuesday. 

She told fellow lawmakers that more than 150 field chapels have been consecrated on Russia’s front lines. Every trench has a priest, and every dugout has an Orthodox icon. “This is our foundation, and it is precisely here that the Collective West is striking next. Not with tanks and drones, but with false pastors and false elders — a substitution of faith with blasphemous lies,” she said. 

Lantratova named Mir Vsem, a nonprofit based in Germany that supports dissident priests, as a key perpetrator of this supposed Western sacrilege. She accused the group of trying to dismantle Russia’s “spiritual shield” by “discrediting” the Russian Orthodox Church, “recruiting” clergy, accusing Russian soldiers of war crimes, and promoting the canonization of individuals labeled “extremists” by the Russian state. Lantratova singled out specific individuals she claims are working against Russia through Mir Vsem — including Archpriest Andrey Kordochkin and Priest Valerian Dunin-Barkovsky (both barred from ministry by the Russian Orthodox Church and now affiliated with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople) — along with religious scholar Sergey Chapnin.

Mir Vsem was founded in Germany in 2023 to support clergy in Russia who have faced persecution for opposing the invasion of Ukraine. According to its website, the organization is funded “exclusively by private donations and small partner foundations that share our values.” In 2024, Mir Vsem reported raising €97,000 (roughly $108,500).

Lantratova also accused Mir Vsem of cooperating with the antiwar group Christians Against the War, which she claimed has been outlawed as “undesirable” in Belarus for collaborating with the Ukrainian military. (She appeared to confuse it with the human rights group Christian Vision, which Belarus has designated as “extremist.”) In her speech, Lantratova claimed that Mir Vsem receives funding from German foundations linked to intelligence services and “foreign agents.” Additionally, she said she has formally petitioned the Prosecutor General’s Office to designate Mir Vsem as an “undesirable” organization in Russia.

Despite these alleged plots by foreign priests, Lantratova argued that Russia can withstand such interference by defending its national holy trinity — faith, the army, and the people — “from every contagion.”

Agentstvo cites a May 2024 report from Novaya Gazeta Europe estimating that at least 59 antiwar clergy have faced repression from the Russian Orthodox Church and law enforcement agencies, including suspensions, defrockings, and bans on ministry.