The article provides a study of the relationship between politics and religion in contemporary Russia. The authors analyze the survey “Sociopolitical Preferences of Russian Society” (number of people identifying themselves as Orthodox believers N=2,735), which shows that at least 21.1 percent of the sample make decisions concerning their electoral choices under the direct influence of priests and fellow parishioners. The authors reveal that, although the ruling party, “United Russia,” is the main political beneficiary of the Orthodox vote, political support largely depends on believers’ church attendance. The authors show that priests’ public and private advice on political preference is not effective in garnering support for the ruling party. Support for “United Russia” is most likely when believers discuss their electoral choices within their church community.
