Orthodoxy, Culture and Language: Alaska in Russia’s Religious Diplomacy of the 21st Century

Authors

Oleksandr Lukyanenko, Poltava V. G. Korolenko National Pedagogical UniversityFollow

Author ORCID Identifier

0000-0002-6228-6695

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of the religious factor of the Russian foreign diplomacy in the light of Vladimir Putin’s high-profile visit to Alaska n August 15, 2025. The paper studies a special place of Alaska in the historical imagination of Russian political and church discourse. The status of this particular territory in Russian state worldview – the former “Russian America” – is indicative: it refers to the idea of an unfinished imperial legacy. The research doesn’t touch a main event that included a meeting with US President Donald Trump but an off-schedule meeting with Archbishop Alexei (Trader) of Sitka and Alaska, during which a symbolic presentation of icons took place. This act requires interpretation in the broader context of the religious diplomacy of the Russian Federation, where the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) occupies a key place as an instrument of “soft power”. Therefore, the visit to the Archbishop of Alaska should not be perceived as private or accidental, but as a multi-level action that combines historical allusions, religious symbolism, and modern strategies of hybrid warfare.

Recommended Citation

Lukyanenko, Oleksandr (2025) "Orthodoxy, Culture and Language: Alaska in Russia’s Religious Diplomacy of the 21st Century," Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe: Vol. 45 : Iss. 10 , Article 2.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.55221/2693-2229.2692
Available at: https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/ree/vol45/iss10/2