To understand Putin and Russia requires the same level of investigation into ideology and spiritual messianism as has been done for ISIS, the Taliban, China and other groups. They are not unique.
Yes, as one commenter noted, “NATO was seen as too aggressive, and Putin's response is to try and preserve a traditional pan-Slavic sphere of influence in Eastern Europe, the kind of buffer zone that prevents another Napoleon, Kaiser Wilhelm and Hitler from having their way with the motherland. The line he drew was Ukraine.”
But there's more to it than geopolitical strategy.
Styling oneself as a spiritual leader tasked with guiding their tribe back to their nation's sacred roots is a tale as old as time, and one that ought to be quite familiar to Americans, Quebecers, Western Canadians and anyone who has entertained various kinds of nationalist exceptionalism.
Knowing the history also clues us in to why trade sanctions, which do hurt economically, is not deterring Putin. Money, international reputation and war casualties simply do not mean very much when put on the scale of “righteous” belief.
The story begins a little over one thousand years ago, with a Byzantine ruler threatened by an uprising of treacherous generals. The Christian Emperor Basil II, based in his glorious capital of Byzantium, felt he had no choice but to reach out to a traditional enemy—the pagans over in the land of the Rus, led by Prince Vladimir I of Kiev.
Both men were clever negotiators. In exchange for an alliance, Prince Vladimir offered to evacuate his stronghold in the Crimea and to supply military support (the origins of the famous Varangian guard).
Furthermore, he demanded to be married to Basil's younger sister, Anna. At this, the Christian ruler hesitated, for the Byzantines viewed all the peoples of Northern Europe as barbarians. Anna, unsurprisingly, objected as such a union had no precedent in Imperial history.
However, desperate times call for desperate measures, and eventually a solution was reached—
Vladimir would have to convert to Christianity.
Giles Fraser, a journalist, broadcaster and Rector in London continues our story,
“Returning to Kiev in triumph, Vladimir proceeded to summon the whole city to the banks of the river Dnieper for a mass baptism. The year is 989. This is the founding, iconic act of Russian Orthodox Christianity. From here, Christianity would spread out and merge with the Russian love of the motherland, creating a potent brew of nationalism and spirituality. It was as if the whole of the Russian people had been baptized. Vladimir was declared a saint. When the Byzantine empire fell, the Russians saw themselves as its natural successor [just as Byzantium saw itself as the heir to Rome]. Russia was now the Third Rome.
Soviet Communism, understandably, feared and tried to crush all of this — but failed.
And in the post-Soviet period, thousands of churches have been built and re-built. Though the West thinks of Christianity as something enfeebled and declining, in the East it is thriving.
Back in 2019, Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, boasted that they were building three churches a day. Last year, they opened a Cathedral to the Armed Forces an hour outside Moscow. Religious imagery merges with military glorification. War medals are set in stained glass, reminding visitors of Russian martyrdom. In a large mosaic, more recent victories — including 2014’s “the return of Crimea” — are celebrated. This is no “blessed are the peacemakers” gospel.
At the heart of this post-Soviet revival of Christianity is another Vladimir. Vladimir Putin. Many people don’t appreciate the extent to which the invasion of Ukraine is a spiritual quest for him. The Baptism of Rus is the founding event of the formation of the Russian religious psyche, the Russian Orthodox church traces its origins back here. That’s why Putin is not so much interested in a few Russian-leaning districts to the east of Ukraine. His goal is Kiev itself.
He was born in Leningrad — a city that has reclaimed its original saint’s name — to a devout Christian mother and atheist father. His mother baptized him in secret, and he still wears his baptismal cross. Since he became President, Putin has cast himself as the true defender of Christians throughout the world, the leader of the Third Rome. His relentless bombing of ISIS, for example, was cast as the defense of the historic homeland of Christianity. And he will typically use faith as a way to knock the West, as in this speech in 2013:
“We see many of the Euro-Atlantic countries are actually rejecting their roots, including the Christian values that constitute the basis of Western civilization. They are denying moral principles and all traditional identities: national, cultural, religious and even sexual. They are implementing policies that equate large families with same-sex partnerships, belief in God with the belief in Satan.”
End of Piece
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