On Monday morning, 11/4/2022, a PhD thesis, entitled (Russian Orthodox Evangelization in the Levant 1533-1917, historical study), was discussed at the History Department at the College of Arts / University of Basrah.

The thesis submitted by the student Raed Muhammad Lazim included four chapters. The first chapter discussed evangelization and the emergence of the Orthodox community in the Levant, the second chapter included religious journeys and Russian policy towards the Levant until 1846 CE, the third chapter discussed the Russian missionaries arriving in the Levant (1847-1881 CE), and the fourth chapter dealt with the Imperial Palestinian orthodox society: its origins and missionary activities in the Levant (1882-1917 AD).

The thesis aims to identify Russia's religious role and its efforts to spread the Orthodox doctrine.

The thesis concluded that the religious factor is the axis through which the relations between the Ottomans and the Russians began, so the Russians used it as a cover to achieve their goals in controlling Constantinople and seizing the straits and holy places in the Levant.  This was culminated in sending Russian religious missions, which aim to support Russia’s position in the East by strengthening the Orthodox faith in the Orthodox churches. Then the formula of its presence in the East was replaced by a new institution, the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society in 1882 AD.  Russia was able to stand up to the European missionary campaigns, but the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese war in 1905 AD, then World War I in 1914 AD, and finally the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 AD, the Russian Empire withered away and with it the Imperial Assembly.