The loss of power by Russian President Vladimir Putin will affect the Russian Orthodox Church, leading to its fragmentation.
Alexander Soldatov, a Russian and Ukrainian publicist and scientist, shared this opinion in an interview with Religiyna Pravda.
He noted that the Putin regime has already lost its charisma, vitality, and vitality.
"Therefore, if the transit of power begins, these transformation processes will also affect the Russian Orthodox Church," Soldatov said.
Then, in his opinion, "the process of jurisdictional institutional fragmentation of the Russian Orthodox Church into rather diverse groups, significant groups in terms of volume, will begin."
At the same time, these groups will have to compete at the expense of different types of relations with Constantinople.
"One group, I think, will immediately restore these relations, recognizes the position of Constantinople. The other, on the contrary, will fall into a more radical non – recognition and will move closer to something like Old Believers, or maybe to the Old Believers themselves as such," Soldatov said.
"Therefore, as long as the Putin regime exists, it cements, freezes and paralyzes the institutional development of the church. When it is gone, all the bonds will break and the internal division that is already there will flow out," the scientist concluded.