The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) has announced plans to increase the number of military chaplains deployed with Russian forces in Ukraine fivefold, aiming to provide spiritual support and combat what it describes as the "brutalisation" of soldiers.

At present, around 300 priests serve alongside Russian troops, but the ROC is calling for at least 1,500 clergy members to be embedded within military units. The proposal, discussed at the XXXIII Christmas Readings, was framed as a necessary measure to maintain the moral integrity of soldiers and counter what church representatives described as a "sinful spirit of vengeance" among those engaged in combat.

According to Metropolitan Kirill of Stavropol and Nevinnomyssk, additional clergy will be trained through a newly established military-oriented programme at the Rostov Theological Seminary. The church intends to recruit candidates early in their education to ensure they are prepared for service at the front.

At the meeting, senior Russian Orthodox figures argued that the army lacks spirituality and that greater religiosity among troops would bolster their effectiveness against Ukraine. Military chaplains, they claimed, would play a decisive role in sustaining the troops' fighting spirit and pushing Russia towards victory.

Archpriest Dmitry Vasilenkov, deputy chairman of the ROC's Synodal Department for Cooperation with the Armed Forces, claimed that religious faith prevents soldiers from succumbing to cruelty and strengthens their resolve. For a believer, he said, "it is easier to step onto the front line and challenge death." He also suggested that Ukrainian forces deliberately attempt to provoke Russian troops into committing war crimes, "driving them into sin and depriving them of God's help."

"The work of military chaplains is the main condition for victory in this war," Vasilenkov said. "The stronger the fighting spirit, the stronger the army."

Some church officials are also calling for a broader revival of religious instruction in the military, including reintroducing catechism courses and theological education for Russian Army officers. Archpriest Andrey Kanev, a military chaplain in Russia’s Central Military District, emphasised that spiritual work should have begun "yesterday and the day before" rather than in the trenches.

"Experiencing faith in war does not necessarily mean proper religiosity. There are commanders and political officers who have felt God, who have felt faith – but have not yet come to Orthodoxy. Therefore, we have a lot of work to do," he said.

Although nominally independent, the ROC has long been under the Kremlin’s influence and regularly backs the actions of the Russian government and President Vladimir Putin. ROC head Patriarch Kirill frequently appears alongside Putin, including on Christmas Day, when he blessed crosses and icons to be given as gifts to commanders of troops fighting in Ukraine. The ROC has consistently described the invasion of Ukraine as a “holy war.”

A number of Russian priests who have condemned the war have been expelled from the church, with some leaving the country – many relocating to other Eastern Orthodox nations or Istanbul.

In Ukraine, Orthodox Christianity, the country’s largest religious denomination, is divided between churches that had been loyal to the Moscow Patriarchate and those under a separate ecclesiastical and canonical body. Russia’s full-scale invasion, which began in February 2022, has deepened religious divisions within the Orthodox Church in Eastern Europe, particularly between the similarly named yet distinct Orthodox Church of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP).

Following the invasion, Kyiv banned the activities of the UOC-MP due to its links to the Kremlin.