Existential upheavals: Tracing war’s immediate effect on individual religiosity in Ukraine

This study examines religious changes during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine through a two-wave panel study of 595 individuals before and during the 2022 war. It explores the relationship between wartime adversity and changes in religiosity. Our findings suggest that greater personal exposure to war does not increase religiosity. At the same time, greater existential insecurity is associated with a greater magnitude of religious change, regardless of its direction. In addition, the research found that individuals who were less religious before the war experienced a greater increase in religiosity. However, the effect of war exposure on the change in religiosity was more pronounced among religious people.