To truly understand the underpinnings of today’s Russia and its toxic rulers, it is essential to explore the roots of a pillar of this autocracy as constructed by Vladimir Putin—the Russian Orthodox Church. And in our search for how deeply implanted it is in this nation and its people, there is no more essential and riveting a work than Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing: The Russian Orthodox Church’s Threat to European Security and Democracy. Miceál O’Hurley and his writing partner Oksana Shadrina have provided us with a brilliantly conceived roadmap through this dark and arcane world to a threat that stretches far beyond the immediate confines of the Russian Orthodox Church, or for that matter its Ukrainian homologue, to the boundaries of Europe and even further. Its roots are long and deep.

O’Hurley and Shadrina bring to their work a profound understanding of and sensibility to the history that has shaped the architecture that is today’s Orthodox Church in Russia and beyond. With Russian Orthodoxy’s efforts to co opt its Ukrainian homologue and Putin’s increasingly virulent attempts to blend religion and politics, an understanding of this complex landscape is indispensable. Start here.

David A. Andelman, former correspondent for
The New York Times and CBS News,
creator of Substack’s Andelman Unleashed