Russian Orthodox Church as hybrid warfare tool
UnHerd reports on 17 August that the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), under Patriarch Kirill, functions as an instrument of Moscow’s geopolitical power across Europe. Kirill has framed the Ukraine war as a “Holy War” with redemptive meaning for fallen soldiers and cast Western values as corrupting. European security agencies and investigations, including by Ukraine’s Molfar Institute, document ROC networks building churches near strategic sites, military bases and infrastructure in countries such as Sweden, Norway, Czechia and Finland. Cases include suspected espionage by clergy after diplomatic expulsions, election interference via funded “pilgrimages” for Moldovan priests, and real-estate acquisitions linked to entities like Rosatom. Baltic states are forcing severance of Moscow ties or face closures; Bulgaria blocked EU sanctions on Kirill.
Background includes centuries of church-state co-dependency, intensified under Soviet KGB oversight of bishops and now amplified post-2022 invasion. The ROC retains cultural pull in Orthodox regions like Serbia, Bulgaria and Georgia, while facing backlash in Catholic/Protestant northern Europe. Ukraine’s 2018 autocephalous church creation was a major blow to Moscow’s “Russian World” concept. Constantinople has absorbed some defrocked anti-war priests.
Key tensions centre on distinguishing genuine faith from hybrid operations: governments risk accusations of religious persecution while addressing security threats. Open questions include the effectiveness of sanctions and affiliation switches, the scale of refugee recruitment via European parishes, and whether deeper Orthodox cultural ties will blunt Western countermeasures as the war grinds on.
Sources: UnHerd.
Britain’s housing disaster and economic sclerosis
Spiked’s 16 August long-read details Britain’s housing shortfall as far worse than a mere crisis: the UK has 446 homes per thousand people versus a European average of 542, equating to a 6.5 million home gap. New-build schemes are at multi-year lows; England has over 1.3 million households on social housing waiting lists against just 12,198 new social homes built in 2025. Real house prices have fallen amid high mortgage rates (near 5%) and stagnant incomes, even as net migration peaked then eased. Labour’s 1.5 million homes target by 2030 is admitted as a mere “dent”; new PM Andy Burnham’s Greater Manchester record delivered far below pledges.
Background traces roots to the 1947 Town and Country Planning Act’s state monopoly on land development, Green Belt expansions and layered environmental rules that halved private housebuilding rates post-war. Broader economic stagnation—GDP growth averaging 1.5% since 1998, construction productivity near-flat for decades—compounds this. Quality issues include small, poorly insulated homes. Burnham prioritises council housing and ending rough sleeping, but prior mayoral results and Net Zero mandates (e.g., Greater Manchester’s accelerated targets) have slowed delivery.
Tensions arise between restrictive planning, bureaucratic inertia and political targets that ignore supply constraints and productivity failure. Open questions include whether Burnham can override planning blockers and short-termism, if demand-side factors like migration or rates are overstated relative to supply sclerosis, and how regional economies tied to failing sectors will fare without structural reform.
Sources: Spiked; UnHerd (related homelessness coverage).