"The West should treat the ROC like the Wagner Group or RT," - Samuel Ramani

This was stated by Samuel Ramani, an expert of the British Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) at the Washington Institute for Foreign Policy Studies, Voice of America reports.

According to Ramani's research, the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church in Africa intensified after the Patriarchate of Constantinople granted the Tomos to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in 2019 and the recognition of the new Church in Ukraine by the Orthodox Church of Alexandria, whose jurisdiction extends over the entire African continent with its centre in Egypt.

Prior to the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2021, the Russian Orthodox Church established its exarchate in Africa and, with the support of the Russian state, began to open new parishes on the African continent.

"In 2019, Russia hosted the first African summit in Sochi. All these events seem to coincide with the Russian resurgence in Africa and the growing ambitions of the Church, which further reinforces the thesis that the Church is an instrument of the Russian state, its 'soft power'," Ramani says.

From December 2021 to July 2023, the Russian Orthodox Church opened more than 200 parishes in Africa.

Since 2021, Russian Orthodox bishops and priests have been travelling to Africa in search of new opportunities in the form of commercial contracts and priests they are trying to convince to move from the Patriarchate of Alexandria to the Moscow Patriarchate.

"Their most successful marketing message - the one promoted by Patriarch Kirill - is ‘we share common conservative views, we are against Western permissiveness, against consumerism’, and at the economic summit in St Petersburg, Putin reiterated the same message," Ramani notes.

"It is very telling, for example, that the development of the Russian Orthodox Church abroad was entrusted to Maria Lvova-Belova, who was the main architect of the abduction of Ukrainian children and is wanted by the International Criminal Court,’ the researcher emphasizes.

Speaking about what the West can do to counter Russia's policy in Africa, Ramani believes that it should start by paying more attention to Africa.

"In terms of religious freedoms, we have to look at the Russian Orthodox Church not as a purely religious organisation, but as an agent of the Kremlin's interests, a political tool that is not much different from the Wagner Group or RT," Ramani said.

He is convinced that Western countries need to re-align their priorities, turn towards Africa, and pursue a more coordinated policy on the continent, using diplomatic missions from different countries.

Speaking about the upcoming US administration of Donald Trump, Ramani emphasises that it is expected to be more involved in the protection of Christians in Africa, as the Russian TV channel RT actively promotes this topic, unlike Western media.