On August 15, 2025, a meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, between American Orthodox Archbishop Alexei and Russian President Vladimir Putin has ignited a storm of controversy, drawing sharp denunciations from Ukrainian Orthodox bishops in the United States and highlighting deep divisions within the Orthodox Christian community over Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.
The encounter took place at the Fort Richardson National Cemetery, following Putin’s summit with U.S. President Donald Trump. In a gesture laden with symbolism, Putin and Archbishop Alexei exchanged warm greetings and gifts of holy icons. Putin also placed flowers at the graves of Soviet-era airmen killed during World War II, a nod to the shared history between Russia and Alaska, which was once a czarist territory before being sold to the United States.
During their brief conversation, Archbishop Alexei, who serves as the bishop of Alaska for the Orthodox Church in America (OCA)—a now-independent body that originated from the Russian Orthodox Church—expressed gratitude for the faith brought to Alaska by Russian missionaries. “Russia has given us what’s most precious of all, which is the Orthodox faith, and we are forever grateful,” Alexei told Putin, according to both TRT World and Word&Way. He went on to say that he visits Russia regularly, and when his priests and seminarians return from there, they report, “I’ve been home.” Putin responded warmly: “Please feel at home whenever you come.”
The two exchanged sacred gifts: Putin gave Alexei icons of St. Herman—an early Russian missionary to Alaska—and of the Mother of God, both of which Alexei received reverently, making the sign of the cross and kissing each icon. In return, Alexei presented Putin with an icon he had received upon becoming bishop. Notably, the pair did not discuss the Russia-Ukraine war during their interaction, as confirmed by video footage and media reports.
However, the meeting’s optics—especially occurring on American soil and just after Putin’s summit with Trump—were not lost on critics. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA, led by Metropolitan Antony and Archbishop Daniel, issued a scathing statement. “Such gestures are not merely unfortunate — they are a betrayal of the Gospel of Christ and scandalous to the faithful,” the statement read, as reported by Word&Way. The leaders condemned the Russian regime for “the invasion of the independent and peaceful nation of Ukraine and for the death of hundreds of thousands, for the disappearance of countless innocents, for the tearing of families apart, and for the deliberate destruction of Ukraine.” They added, “To extend warm words of welcome and admiration to this ‘leader’ is nothing less than an endorsement of his actions.”
The statement did not mince words about the larger moral implications, declaring, “While the church preaches love and forgiveness, it can never excuse or whitewash evil.” The Ukrainian bishops’ denunciation was rooted not only in the ongoing violence but also in the perception that such meetings confer legitimacy on Putin, who remains under an International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued in 2023 for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
Archbishop Alexei, aware of the backlash, sought to clarify his intentions in a follow-up message to Alaska priests. He emphasized that his gratitude was directed at the historical missionaries who brought the Orthodox faith to Alaska, not at current Russian politics. “When I expressed gratitude in that public moment, it was not praise for present politics, but a remembrance of the missionaries of earlier generations … who brought us the Orthodox faith at great cost,” Alexei wrote. He also defended the exchange of icons, stating, “The veneration we give to holy icons is directed not to the one who gives them, but to the saint or feast they represent. Even if the greatest sinner were beside me, the honor passes not to him but to heaven itself.” Acknowledging the potential for misunderstanding, he added, “I know that sacred gestures can be misunderstood, and I grieve if this has caused confusion or scandal.”
The incident has laid bare the fissures within American Orthodoxy, which is composed of multiple jurisdictions rooted in various immigrant communities. The OCA, with its Russian heritage, and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA, which serves Ukrainian immigrants and their descendants, generally cooperate in some areas but maintain separate hierarchies and, increasingly, divergent views on the war in Ukraine.
These divisions mirror the schisms in Ukraine itself, where Orthodox Christianity is the majority faith. Ukraine’s Orthodox population is currently split between the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, historically under the Moscow Patriarchate, and the breakaway Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which received recognition as an independent church by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople. Both Ukrainian churches have condemned the Russian invasion, but the former remains under suspicion for alleged ties to Moscow, despite proclaiming its independence in 2022. The Ukrainian government has passed legislation banning religious groups linked to the Russian Orthodox Church or any faith group supporting the invasion, a move widely seen as targeting the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The church’s leader has resisted government demands, asserting the church’s independence and criticizing the process as flawed.
The Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations, a coalition that includes the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, has supported the government’s stance, arguing that Russia has broadly violated religious liberties in occupied territories. “It is widely known that the Russian Federation uses religion, particularly the Russian Orthodox Church, as a weapon to pursue its neo-imperial goals in various countries,” the council stated, according to Word&Way. The council maintained that Ukraine honors religious freedom and pluralism but must ensure that religion is not used to abet the invasion.
Meanwhile, in Russia, the Moscow Patriarch Kirill has offered unwavering support for the war, presiding over a council that declared the invasion a “holy war” and promising that Russian soldiers who die in Ukraine have all their sins forgiven. Putin himself has repeatedly displayed public acts of Orthodox piety, such as making the sign of the cross at the Soviet graves and kissing the icons he presented to Alexei. In recent statements, Putin has asserted—without elaboration—that any peace deal must include “providing an adequate environment for the Orthodox Church and the Christian faith in Ukraine.”
For many in the Orthodox community, the meeting in Alaska was more than a simple diplomatic encounter—it was a flashpoint that exposed the complex interplay of faith, politics, and national identity. As American churches grapple with these tensions, the question of how to balance pastoral outreach, historical gratitude, and moral responsibility remains as pressing as ever. The controversy is a stark reminder that, even in matters of faith, the shadows of war and geopolitics are never far away.
