Likewise, thank you for responding! 'Idolatry' means that you worship an idol as though it is God. That does not occur in the Orthodox church. My comment was to impart some balance, as your description of the Orthodox Christian faith came across (to me, at least) as if it were cultishly ritualistic, which couldn't be further from the truth.

To your other point, you are right: I'm not making a comment on living in Russia, nor have I been to the church there. The history of the Orthodox Church in Russia is not a kind one, although I think there's a lot of hope associated with Putin's (current) good relationship with the Church. My fingers are crossed that this continues!

What might interest you: there is a book, "The Icon: Window on the Kingdom" by Michel Quenot, which details iconoclastic arguments in small albeit decent detail. It's well worth your time, if you're curious about the various back-and-forth within the church over divine imagery (and what led ultimately to the proclamation of the legitimacy of icons and their veneration by the Ecumenical Council of Nicea II. Again, I'm not a historian, so I apologize for any inaccuracies.)

This is a good starting point for the point of view I'm coming from, although I'm not trying to change your mind nor is this a perfect description: https://www.orthodoxroad.com/iconography-and-idolatry-part-1/

https://www.orthodoxroad.com/iconography-and-idolatry-part-2/

It's all very "Orthodox Christian", so it might be difficult to understand. Not because understanding it is difficult, but because it's a matter of faith and which path we're on. Without being Orthodox Christian, it's difficult to orient oneself to Orthodox thinking (which is, of course, true in reverse). To that end, I am still learning.