2026
18 September 2026
Talk
Faith Under Pressure: Religious Communities in Russia After 2022
Breaking the Chains: Responding to Persecution and Human Trafficking · Anglican Persecuted Church Network, New Wineskins Missions Network
All Saints Anglican Church, Woodbridge, Virginia
15 September 2026
Book Talk
Religious Communities Under Pressure
The Russia Program at GW · Elliott School of International Affairs
Lindner Family Commons, George Washington University, Washington, DC
A conversation on how Russia’s war against Ukraine has reshaped the Russian Orthodox Church and sharpened pressure on anti-war clergy and believers. Moderated by Peter Rollberg, Professor of Slavic Languages, Film Studies and International Affairs at George Washington University.
9 September 2026
Remarks
Russia as a False Defender of Traditional Values
European Parliament — ECR Group, with the Frontline Foundation
Brussels
1 July 2026
Lecture
Documenting Religious Persecution in Russia, 2022–2026
EuARe Annual Conference
LUISS Guido Carli University, Rome
Panel “Religious Communities Under Pressure” (Author Meet Critique), with Very Rev. Andrey Kordochkin (University of Göttingen) and Dmitry Uzlaner (Freie Universität Berlin).
10 June 2026
Panel
America's Adversaries: The Russia Reality
Washington, DC
Panel: "Russia: Conservative Beacon or Menace?" Moderator: Ambassador John Herbst. Panelists: Maria Snegovaya, Sarah Makin, Charmaine Yoest, Sergei Chapnin
14 May 2026
Lecture
Christian Peacemaking and the Work of Solidarity in Eurasia
Summer Institute for Transformation and Reconciliation
Duke Divinity School
31 March 2026
Lecture
Icons on Ammo Boxes: Exhibition Opening Lecture
Fairfield University
Fairfield Theatre Company
27 March 2026
Lecture
The Russian World (Russkiy Mir): Complex Trajectories and Contested Meanings
Conference: "1946 Pseudo-Sobor: 80 Years Later: The Persecution Continues"
Center of Ukrainian Church Studies, Catholic University of America, Washington, DC
4 February 2026
Side Event
The Kremlin's Use of the Russian Orthodox Church in the War Against Ukraine
International Religious Freedom Summit
Washington, DC
2025
16 December 2025
Webinar
Religion and Foreign Policy: The Russian Orthodox Church in Global Affairs
Council on Foreign Relations
Moderator: Timothy Snyder (CFR). Participants: Katherine Kelaidis (National Hellenic Museum), Andreja Bogdanovski.
Watch on YouTube →
4 December 2025
Panel
The (Un)holy Alliance: Vladimir Putin and Patriarch Kirill Between War in Ukraine and Religious Oppression
SettimanaNews & Appia Institute
Palazzo Grazioli, Rome, Foreign Press Association
Co-speaker: Fr. Lorenzo Prezzi (Chief Editor SettimanaNews)
20 November 2025
Lecture
Reinterpreting Martyrdom: The Russian Orthodox Church, Memory, and the Justification of Violence
ASEEES Annual Convention
Washington, DC
29 September – 5 October 2025
Workshop
Religion and Corruption
Trebinje, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Topic: "Sacred Assets, Political Debts: Understanding Corruption Networks in the Contemporary Russian Orthodox Church." Organized by Prof. Dr. Klaus Buchenau, Chair of Southeast and East European History, Institut für Geschichte, Universität Regensburg.
18 September 2025
Panel
How the Russian Orthodox Church Supports the Kremlin's War Against Ukraine
Atlantic Council Eurasia Center
Washington, DC
Panelists: Vladimir Kara-Murza, Archpriest Valerian Dunin-Barkovsky, Very Reverend Andrey Kordochkin, Elizabeth Prodromou.
Watch on YouTube →
11 September 2025
Interview
Russia: An Interview on the Church, the War, and Navalny's Legacy
Mueller Hall Refectory, Valparaiso University
Valparaiso, Indiana
A public interview on how to read Russia in a post-truth era: the war against Ukraine, the death of Alexei Navalny and what remains of his legacy, and the global role of the Russian Orthodox Church. Hosted by Rev. Nicholas Denysenko, Ph.D.
30 May 2025
Panel
Can Post-Regime Russia Embrace Christian Democracy? Religious Persecution in Modern Russia and Occupied Ukraine
Free Peoples of Russia House · Orthodox Christian Studies Center, Fordham University
Washington, DC
Panelists: Sergei Chapnin, Sarah Makin, Ben Weaver.
2024
11 May 2024
Broadcast
Верит ли в Бога Путин, кому подражает и хочет ли стать русским царем?
Radio Svoboda (RFE/RL) · Грани времени with Mumin Shakirov
Guests: Yevgenia Albats, Tamara Eidelman, Sergei Chapnin, Tumso Abdurakhmanov. In Russian.
Watch on YouTube →
15 April 2024
Lecture
Navigating the Crossroads: Orthodox Christianity in the Contemporary World — Between War and Beauty
Annual Shirley Mullen Lecture
Houghton University, Houghton, NY
Once held together as One Church without a central authority, global Orthodoxy is now cut through by deep divisions — over church and state, religious nationalism, ecclesial authority, and human rights. Chapnin argues that Tradition itself has been weaponized, above all by the Russian Orthodox Church since the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine, and asks what this does to Orthodox identity, unity, and witness.
25 March 2024
Panel
Spirituality, Politics and Polities
Council for World Mission
Serbia
14 March 2024
Talk
Faith and Nation in Russia
Conference Faith and Nation · Centre for Dialogue and Prayer in Oświęcim, with the Pontifical University of John Paul II, Ignatianum University and the John Paul II Intercultural Dialogue Institute (Kraków)
Oświęcim, Poland (via Zoom)
1 March 2024
Broadcast
«Мы не боимся!» – на похороны Навального пришли тысячи
Radio Svoboda (RFE/RL) · Лицом к событию with Ivan Voronin
2023
11 October 2023
Talk
Orthodox Christianity and the Russo-Ukrainian War
Ukrainian Society and Orthodox Christian Fellowship, Fordham University
New York
Moderated by George Demacopoulos.
Report →
29 April 2023
Podcast
Former Editor Reveals Russian Orthodox Church’s Ties to Putin and Ukraine Invasion as Sinful
Religion Unplugged (The Media Project)
20 April 2023
Webinar
The Weaponization of Prayer: An Analysis of the Russian Orthodox Military Cathedral
Bishop H. Losten Center for Ukrainian Church Studies (Catholic University of America) · Huffington Ecumenical Institute (Loyola Marymount University)
Online
With Archimandrite Cyril Hovorun. Moderated by Very Rev. Mark Morozowich.
Watch on YouTube →
25 March 2023
Webinar
Religious Freedom, Self-Defense, and the Orthodox Communities in Ukraine
Archon Academia Symposia Committee (Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle) · Orthodox Christian Studies Center, Fordham University
Online
Panelists: Elizabeth Prodromou, Nadieszda Kizenko, Cyril Hovorun, Sergei Chapnin. Moderated by George Demacopoulos.
Event page →
26 January 2023
Panel
“Theology of War” in Sermons and Public Speeches of the ROC Bishops and Clergy: A New Framework for the Post-Soviet Civil Religion
Conference The Russian Orthodox Church: Ideology, Politics, and War · IERES, Elliott School of International Affairs
George Washington University, Washington, DC
Paper in Panel 2, “The Russian Orthodox Church and the War.”
Conference →
2022
8 April 2022
Webinar
Christian Witness in a Time of War
In Communion Speaker Series · Orthodox Peace Fellowship
Online
With Sr. Vassa Larin and Deacon Brandon Gallaher.
Event page →
9 March 2022
Panel
Russia and Ukraine – a Religious War?
CREID (Coalition for Religious Equality and Inclusive Development) · Orthodox Christian Studies Center, Fordham University
Online
Chaired by George E. Demacopoulos. Panelists: Cyril Hovorun, Daniel Galadza, Archbishop Angaelos, Mariz Tadros, Sergei Chapnin.
Event page →
2021
2 June 2021
Webinar
Political Protest, Theological Dissent, and the Orthodox Church
Political Theology Network · Orthodox Christian Studies Center, Fordham University
Online
Series “Religion and Freedom in the Post-Communist Orthodox World.”
Event page →
2020
16 October 2020
Panel
Religious Ecosystem: Pluralism, Freedom, and Civil Society
Conference Ukraine Is Not Yet Dead: Religion, Pluralism and Geopolitics in Eurasia · Fletcher Initiative on Religion, Law and Diplomacy
The Fletcher School, Tufts University
With Tetiana Kalenychenko and Rev. Andrew Bennett. Moderated by Elizabeth Prodromou.
Report →
2018
October–November 2018
Lecture course
The Church Revival in Retrospect, 1988–2018
Open Orthodox University of St Sophia the Wisdom (Відкритий Православний Університет Святої Софії-Премудрості)
Video course, in Russian
Five lectures, released on YouTube between 27 October and 6 November 2018: (1) Periodization: between two jubilees and two murders; (2) Church Revival 1.0: the 1990s; (3) The lay movement: rise and decline; (4) Church and state: the “Russian world” and traditional values; (5) Church and society: questions without answers. Russian title:
Итоги церковного возрождения 1988–2018.
Watch →
2 October 2018
Talk
Constantinople and Moscow: Back to Back
Seminar Truth, Justice and Reconciliation between Russia, Ukraine and the European Union, second session “Churches, War and Peace” · National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Collège des Bernardins, Ukrainian Catholic University, Memorial Society
Institute of Religious Sciences of St Thomas Aquinas, Kyiv, Ukraine
Panel on relations between the Moscow and Constantinople Patriarchates, moderated by Constantin Sigov, with Oles Kulchynsky. The text of the talk was published in Ukrainian as “Константинополь і Москва: спиною один до одного.”
Text (in Ukrainian) →
13 February 2018
Lecture
Russian Orthodoxy Between Empire and Secular World
Faculty of History, World Politics and Sociology, Tambov State University (TSU)
Tambov, Russia
A lecture and open conversation with students on why Russia's post-Soviet religious revival tipped into a crisis of the Church, and how far the Russian Orthodox Church really shapes state and society today. Delivered as part of Chapnin's work with the University of Innsbruck project "Postsecular Conflicts" and in his role as chief editor of the almanac
Dary (The Gifts).
Report →
2016
14 May 2016
Talk
Living Well: The Bad Habits of Our Time
Conference Theology, Culture, Society: Myths and Reality · St Andrew’s Biblical Theological Institute
Pokrovskie Vorota Cultural Center, Moscow, Russia
One of two talks on the state of Orthodoxy in Russia today: on the exhaustion of the language of church media and church art, and on isolation as a growing component of the religious system. The conference marked the jubilee of Irina Yazykova. Russian title:
Жить благополучно. Вредные привычки нашего времени.
Report (in Russian) →
2014
25 September 2014
Paper
Preaching and Worship in the Information Society: The Prophet Jonah and the Way of the Magi
International conference Christianity in the Postmodern World, marking the centenary of Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh · St Andrew’s Biblical Theological Institute, Faculty of Theology of the University of Amsterdam, Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh Foundation
Pokrovskie Vorota Cultural Center, Moscow, Russia
On the Church’s failure so far to reflect theologically on new communication technologies, the drift of preaching toward corporate PR and ideology, and the need for a theology of the image and of communication. Russian title:
Проповедь и поклонение в информационном обществе. Пророк Иона и путь волхвов.
Report (in Russian) →