Russian talking point: Blaming US for Ukraine church split

While Russia has sought to justify its assault on Ukraine with complaints about NATO's eastward expansion, it has also claimed that foreign actors have encroached on its religious turf in Ukraine — even alleging the United States helped instigate an Eastern Orthodox schism there.

Moscow Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, said both the West and a rival patriarch were "pursuing the same end" of seeking to weaken Russia and "make the brotherly peoples — Russians and Ukrainians — enemies."

While hardly the only factor in the war, the religious grievance shouldn't be overlooked, experts say.

"You cannot call it a religious war, but it has a religious dimension," said the Rev. Cyril Hovorun, an Orthodox priest, native of Ukraine and professor of ecclesiology, international relations and ecumenism at University College Stockholm.

Kirill made his comments in reply to a letter from the acting head of the World Council of Churches, who had called on him to "raise up your voice" and mediate with authorities to stop the war in Ukraine.

Kirill replied that the war wasn't the fault of Russian authorities. Instead, he claimed the seeds of the conflict were sown by foreign threats to its borders, both political and religious.