I see them more as being devoutly religious AND maintaining cultural traditions through church associations. I was brought up by a Russian Orthodox mother, and as a child much preferred Russian Orthodox services and cultural/social events.
“I see them more as being devoutly religious AND maintaining cultural traditions through church associations.”
...who are “them” ? Majority of Russians are non-religious, abortion, porn, prostitution, plenty of that over there. Russia is populated by many ethnic groups, being Russian Orthodox (which often has little to do with practicing actual religion) largely means being... Russian, while ethnic non-Russians living there are usually Muslims, Jews, Catholics, Buddhists etc. Their approach to Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) has much more to do with it being Russian than Church. It plays a similar role as Catholic/Protestant identity in Northern Ireland.