Social Work of the Russian Orthodox Church in The Religious Space of Severodonetsk and Mariupol

DOI: 10.33876/2311-0546/2025-3/188-198

Authors

Keywords:

DPR, LPR, Mariupol, religious organizations, Russian Orthodox Church, Severodonetsk

Abstract

The aim of this article is to assess how the Russian Orthodox Church in Severodonetsk (LPR) and Mariupol (DPR) is providing social, psychological and spiritual help to civilians affected by military actions. The study is based on empirical data obtained through interviews with Severodonetsk residents and a survey among Mariupol residents in 2024. It was revealed that the Russian Orthodox Church is currently carrying out activities to coordinate and systematically provide social, psychological and spiritual help to the affected civilians of the new constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The massive material support to the state during the SMO has become one of the important areas of patriotic service of the clergy and believers in 2022–2025. By now, the social and patriotic work of the Russian Orthodox Church during the SMO period has not yet received due attention from Russian researchers. The experience of the Russian Orthodox Church in the patriotic service to the Motherland, providing social and charitable assistance to the affected civilian population, soldiers, refugees seems relevant from the point of view of social solidarity.

Author Biography

  • Tamara Tsareva, the Russian Academy of Sciences N. N. Miklouho-Maklay Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology

    Tsareva, Tamara V. — Ph.D. in History, Researcher at the Center for Ethno-Confessional Studies and the Study of Traditional Russian Spiritual and Moral Values, the Russian Academy of Sciences N. N. Miklouho-Maklay Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology (Moscow, Russian Federation). E-mail: tamara-asribekova@yandex.ru ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0671-4421

    For citation: Tsareva, T. V. 2025. Social Work of the Russian Orthodox Church in The Religious Space of Severodonetsk and Mariupol. Herald of Anthropology (Vestnik Antropologii) 3: 188–198.

    Funding: The study was carried out within the framework of the Russian Scientific Foundation No 25-18-01040 project "Ethnocultural Landscapes of Donbass and Novorossiya: Diversity of Heritage and Development Potential".

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Published

23.09.2025

Issue

No. 3 (2025): Herald of Anthropology (Vestnik antropologii)

Section

Social Activities of the Church