When Vladimir Putin rose to the presidency of Russia in 2000, he inherited the remains of a once-fearsome communist-atheist imperial state.
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Alexis Mrachek: How Putin uses Russian Orthodoxy to grow his empire
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia (C) visit the Saint Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos, in Karyes on May 28, 2016.