Religious Studies Education as a Factor of Societal Religious Security in the Context of Russia's Hybrid War

Abstract

The article is devoted to analyzing the role of religious studies education as one of the key instruments of religious security in countering Russia's religious informational propaganda in its contemporary hybrid wars. It's noted that under the conditions of the ongoing military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, the hybrid reli-gious war has become particularly acute, serving as a component of the broader hybrid strategy of the aggressor state. This type of influence is characterized by the combina-tion of religious narratives with means of informational-psychological pressure, cyber operations, and systematic support of religious institutions by Russian state structures. The primary goal of such actions is to undermine the internal stability of Ukrainian society, incite interconfessional hostility, delegitimize spiritual unity, and sacralize war by justifying it through pseudo-religious rhetoric. The significance of religious security as an important component of national security is emphasized, which should be understood as a multi-vector category that combines spiritual-cultural, legal, security, and socio-political dimensions aimed at achieving religious stability and civil peace. Religious se-curity is a component of overall societal security and the cultural-spiritual environment, encompassing legal, social, educational, informational, moral-ethical, and political aspects of regulating religious relations. The research is based on the results of a survey of Ukrainian university students, which revealed that the overwhelming majority of re-spondents (two-thirds) positively perceive the necessity of introducing educational courses on religious security and religious studies that would help better understand contemporary challenges in the religious sphere. Among learning formats, online cours-es, electronic libraries, and podcasts are popular, as they provide opportunities to acquire knowledge in an informal environment, at convenient times for listeners, in connec-tion with current events, discussions, interfaith dialogues, or social transformations.