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On November 28, Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a keynote speech at the plenary session of the World Russian People’s Congress, a faith-based organization led by Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church and a close ally of President Putin.
The highly staged event took place in the Kremlin and was attended by clerics from other religions, including Islam and Judaism, government officials, military personnel and young people. This stage resembled an iconostasis (Greek for “icon stand”). An iconostasis is a wooden and metal partition with a door that holds a layer of stylized gold-plated icons and separates the nave and sanctuary of a Russian Orthodox church. It symbolizes the boundary between God, heaven (the sacred) and man (the worldly).
Instead of icons, which are considered sacred because they depict various saints, on either side of a giant television screen there will be a display of “The Miraculous Savior” (spas nerkotvornyi, a savior not literally made by hands). (meaning)) identical images were lined up. Russian Christians believe that this ancient icon was not painted by an artist, but appeared as a result of a miracle when Christ washed his face with water and wiped it with a handkerchief. Christ gave the handkerchief to the painter Anani, who was the archivist of Avgar. Avgar cured leprosy with the help of a leper on which the image of Christ was painted.
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Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill looks on with President Vladimir Putin on screen during the 15th World Congress of the Russian People held at the Kremlin Palace in Moscow on November 28, 2023. President Putin spoke via video link to participants at a conference organized by the Russian Orthodox Church. (Photo credit/Getty Images)
Below the screen was a large stage-width sign, decorated with a golden cross and a church cupola on a green background, with the event title: “25th World Congress of the Russian People.”
When the giant TV monitor is turned on, a live image of Putin appears, everyone including Kirill faces the symbol of Putin and the Savior, and a male choir sings the 8th century prayer to the Holy Spirit, “To the Heavenly Emperor.” started singing. Part of a Russian Orthodox church service. Introduced by Kirill, Putin spoke virtually from a monitor towering above the audience, as if speaking from heaven.
MOSCOW, RUSSIA – MAY 1 (RUSSIA OUT) Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill (left) attends the Orthodox Easter Mass at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow on May 1, 2016. Russian President Vladimir Putin, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and his wife Svetlana attended the Orthodox Easter service held by Kirill at Russia’s largest Orthodox cathedral. (Photo by Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)
President Putin began his speech with a moment of silence to honor the memory of the “fallen heroes” who fought for the “motherland.” [in Ukraine]. He then discusses the important role of the Church in the Russian state and history, Russia’s struggle against the West for freedom and sovereignty as a great power (Derzhava) and an independent civilization, and “interethnic and mutual relations.” He spoke about the West’s intentions to promote. “Religious discord” and “tearing our society apart”. He believed that the collapse of the Soviet Union was caused by the communists abandoning their religion, creating a spiritual vacuum.
Putin also drew a distinction between Russia, where tradition and family are the center of culture and everyone knows what a mother and father are, and the decadent West, with its multi-gender pseudoscience. Putin concluded that although the church is officially separated from the state in Russia, “it is impossible to separate the church from society and from the individual.”
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Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and Orthodox Patriarch Kirill lay flowers at the monument to Minin and Pozharsky on Red Square in Moscow on November 4, 2019. President Putin took part in celebratory events at Lead Square and the Kremlin to mark National Unity Day. (Photo by Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)
In a subsequent speech, Kirill emphasized Putin’s messianic role, calling him a “wise patriot” who is “open to the people.” In Old Russian, the term “people” meant “commoners” and even “serfs”. Kirill hinted that “the emergence of such a person” like President Putin was divinely inspired. “We live in very privileged times. It is rare that God gives us such unique opportunities,” said President Putin, who adheres to Russian Orthodox traditions and seeks to strengthen the spirit of the Russian people. He appreciated the promotion of the divine life and understanding of the historical role of the Russian Orthodox tradition. Russian culture and national development.
Many in America would recognize these plays as a cynical use of religion by a godless murderer. They may not be completely wrong. President Putin is a master at weaponizing religion to achieve his personal ambitions to become a modern-day tsar and advance the goals of his Mother Russia.
A former KBG operative trained in psychological operations (psychological operations), Putin charmed former President George W. Bush to develop a personal connection and positive relationship. Putin told Bush, a born-again Christian, about a Christian cross given to him by his mother, who secretly baptized the young Putin. Putin almost lost his cross, but the only one that survived the fire at his dacha was found, and he eventually blessed the cross in the Holy Land. The psychological operation worked, as President Bush clearly saw soul in Putin’s eyes. “When I saw the cross around his neck, I knew right away that President Putin was a man I could work with,” Bush said. “He is a man deeply devoted to his country.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends an Orthodox Easter Mass led by Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow on April 24, 2022. (Getty Images)
But dismissing President Putin simply as a manipulative spymaster would miss an important point about the psyche of Russia and its leader. With an approval rating of 82%, President Putin is seen as something of a savior for many Russians. He revived a sense of Russian exceptionalism that had been severely diminished by the defeat of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union. He also restored Russia’s status as a derzhava, a great power that Russians believed was destined for leadership by divine providence, especially in Eurasia.
What the West doesn’t understand is that the reason Putin and Russia are fighting in Ukraine is not just a matter of conquering a neighbor or trying to re-establish a security buffer between themselves and NATO. That means no.
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An Orthodox priest blesses Russian paratroopers paratroopers marching with a unit in Stavropol, southern Russia, during the 2017 Paratroop Day celebrations, the annual holiday of the Russian Airborne Forces. (Reuters/Eduardo Kornienko TPX Picture of the Day)
Russia has always held a mysterious role as the home of a chosen people in the minds of its people and their leaders, whether they are tsars, people’s commissars, or dictators like Putin. Throughout history, Russian leaders have cultivated the idea of a unique, divinely inspired civilization, neither Eastern nor Western. This sense of imperial exceptionalism has been passed down through generations, even during communist times. Russia was the “Third Rome”, the successor to the Byzantine Empire.
Russians believe that their culture and religion originates from Ukraine, more specifically from the Kievan Rus, a medieval kingdom and the first East Slavic state to which Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians trace their ancestry. I believe. President Putin is taking advantage of this, but as the leader of Mother Russia, he probably also believes in it himself.
What American leaders must understand is that the Russian soldiers who continue to be thrown into the meat grinder of defending Ukraine are never going to stop coming.
As leaders have warned, victory in Ukraine has nothing to do with Estonia or Poland being “next” on Putin’s wish list. It is a sacred duty, and the sacrifices Russia will make to Ukraine, the United States, and its own people are limitless.
Click here to read more from Rebecca Koffler
