Crossword Genius

Soviet ruler keeps eastern church in clemency (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

lenience

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'clemency' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'soviet ruler keeps eastern church' is the wordplay.
'soviet ruler' becomes 'lenin' (Vladimir Lenin. I am not sure about the 'soviet' bit.).
'keeps' is an insertion indicator.
'eastern' becomes 'e'.
'church' becomes 'CE' (abbreviation for Church of England).
'lenin' placed around 'e' is 'lenien'.
'lenien'+'ce'='LENIENCE'

'in' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for lenience that I've seen before include "indulgence" , "Tolerance" , "Quality of mercy in awarding punishment" .)

I've seen this clue in The Mirror.
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