The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate as a potential "tool" of Russian soft power in the wake of Ukraine's 2013 Euromaidan

This article considers the religious and spiritual aspect of the Euromaidan protests; specifically, the role of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate and to what extent the UOC(MP) can justifiably be seen as a tool of Russian ‘soft power’ cultural and ideational influence. It examines the degree of institutional and ideological leverage that Moscow is able to exercise over the Ukrainian church, and then explores the position of the church during the protests, and how this has affected the authority and legitimacy of its standing as an opinion leader in Ukrainian society in the wake of the ‘Revolution of Dignity’.