Vladimir Rozanskij

For the first time in months, the Patriarch of Moscow celebrated Mass in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The Bolshevik revolution sought to erase the Christian “revolution”. “We remember the dreams of revolutionaries with a compassionate smile, since they achieved nothing,” he said. Erdogan is asked to respect Hagia Sophia. Many new churches are under construction for soldiers and policemen. Nationalists have proposed that ‘Russia Day’ be observed on 28 July rather than 12 June as it is now.

Thousands of people take part in protests in the Far East, the north, Arkhangelsk, as well as Moscow, where 20 people were arrested. Putinism and the Soviet model that still dominate society are the targets.

The “Victory of the Russian people” remains the basis of Russian Orthodox identity. After the Armed Forces, Russia’s Olympians are getting their own church to celebrate their victories. The complex will cover 17,000 square metres and will include a pilgrim centre, a medical dispensary, a large swimming pool, a ballet school and many other facilities. It will be built in five to six years.

A government bill prohibits foreigners from participating in and leading religious activities on Russian soil. Also excluded are religious personnel who have studied abroad and who show signs of "religious extremism". This will also create problems for Orthodox priests studying in Rome or abroad.

Located in the Far East of the Russian Federation the city people have been defending their elected governor for days, accused of attempted murder and other serious crimes. The population stands against central power. In many regions, dissatisfaction with Putin's policy and with the huge resources absorbed by Moscow, which impoverish the peripheries, is growing.

Demonstrations also in St. Petersburg and Khabarovsk. Outcry against constitutional changes, which allow Putin to govern the country beyond 2024: he has been in power since 2000. The coronavirus, a reason for denying permits to rallies.

Dead at the borders for no apparent reason, but the tension in the two countries is very high. In Baku demonstrations and invasion of parliament. Azerbaijani defense minister Ragim Gaziev, arrested for "treason". Armenia tries to involve Russia; Azerbaijian Turkey in an attempt to give a "confessional" color to the war. Russia and Hagia Sophia.

Tomorrow Russia will remember the "martyrs of the pandemic". Mother Anastasia, aka Nina Artemeva, continued her dual profession, religious and medical, until the end. She entered the monastery as a 70-year-old. Married twice, she had two children. For her, medicine makes the Gospel current: "love your neighbor, even if he is dirty, injured or bloodied".

With a new constitution behind him, Putin is preparing to clear house and rid himself of all dissent in media, politics and academia. For Khodorkovsky, this is a test of a more mature authoritarian regime. Yakovenko sees the crackdown as a consequence of economic hard times, which will force the regime to make very unpopular choices.

Journalist Ivan Safronov arrested, accused of "betrayal of the state". He was investigating the catastrophe of the Losharik nuclear submarine. Scholars, human rights activists, members of humanitarian and charitable associations are now "groups at risk", given that they maintain relationships with foreign colleagues. The ex-Sergeant Sergij Romanov also sentenced by a civil court. His resistance continues in the Sredneuralskij monastery in Verkhoturja.

The ecclesiastical court of Ekaterinburg has laicized the starets for accusing Church and the State of having caused a "pseudo-pandemic". Testimonies of child abuse under guise of spiritual education. The starets’ monastery surrounded by the police and guarded by "voluntary militias" of loyalists. Covid-19 spreading in Russia and Central Asia.

70% turnout, Putin victory of 80%. The results published before the closing of all of the ballot boxes in the Federation. Miracles in Optina where "The Russian Pilgrim's Tales" was born: the construction of a new church; exorcisms; medical cures.