For decades, the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) was perceived by many as a force capable of fostering positive societal change. Despite being founded during Stalin’s time and being infiltrated by KGB agents, during the Perestroika and the first post-Soviet years the Church often functioned more as a pacifier and a gateway to a more liberal worldview—specifically, a world where individuals have the right to believe as they choose. It offered its help in finding a peaceful resolution in political conflicts, it sometimes opposed the views from the state, and it could be construed as an independent social institution.

However, in the last 25 years, and especially after patriarch Kirill assumed power, everything changed. As of 2023, the ROC has essentially become at one with Putin's state—moreover, it has become one of its ideological pinnacles, a proclaimed custodian of so-called “traditional values”. The Church is deeply entwined with the propagation of militarism, homophobia, and national hatred, it promotes the idea of Putin as a new Czar, plus the Patriarch openly condones war crimes, arguing that they are conducted both  in good faith and in God’s name. Ksenia Luchenko has been following the internal politics of the Church and writing about its relationship with the Russian state for the last 25 years. In this book, she explains this horrific transformation and tells a harrowing story of  how a once liberal institution has evolved into a breeding ground for monstrous ideologies.