Since the beginning of the 21st century, the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine have continued. The Orthodox Church has often been given a unique role in the conflicts and, to some extent, has become “complicit” in escalating the situation. Over the past two decades, religion has become increasingly present in Russian domestic and foreign policy. From the introduction of the concept of the “Russian world” to the recovery of the “sacred place” of Crimea, religious and nationalist narratives have been carefully fused to justify the Russian government’s “expansionist policy” under the integration of the “Holy Rus” civilizational space. In this context, Ukrainian nationalists have actively pursued a “church indigenization” program to break away from Russian control in the spiritual sphere. Ukrainian church activists have proposed a “Kyivan Christianity” distinct from the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). Politicians have responded positively with the slogan “Independent state - independent church” and promoted the formation of the independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) in 2018. The interaction between religion and politics has emerged in the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, which provides a new starting point for understanding the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine since the 21st century. The proposed study was conducted using the methods of discursive and narrative analysis and allowed to identify similarities and differences in the religious narratives of Russian and Ukrainian political and spiritual leaders.

The idea of “Moscow – Third Rome” is a unique phenomenon in Russian religious culture. It is the idea that the Russian state, represented by Moscow, is the “Third Rome” that succeeded Rome and Constantinople and has a mission to save the world. Although this idea was initially a religious doctrine, the consciousness of Russian nationalism and the universalist mission of salvation extended from this idea have been deeply embedded in the Russian national character and way of thinking through the efforts of Russian intellectuals. Since the 21st century, the thought of “Moscow – Third Rome” has been closely integrated with politics and gradually became one of the primary ideological sources of contemporary Russian geopolitical theory. The purpose of this study is to investigate the concept of “Moscow - the Third Rome” in relation to the genesis of Russian civilization. Because of that, traditional methods of historical research were used along with the theory of civilizations, the development of systems, and national archetypes. The article reconstructs the main components of the theory “Moscow—the Third Rome” and its contextualization is carried out within the framework of various periods of Russian and world history. The author concludes that the special messianic role and significance of Russia in world history may be seen as the archetype of Russian national identity.