The Russian World

The eagerness to insert himself into global power struggles is not just a personal propensity of Putin's, but somehow a typical characteristic of Russian nature, which needs to find self-confirmation elsewhere, so as not to loose itself among the forests and steppes of its boundless territory.

A man full of life, passion, and humour, he was able to adapt to the harshest conditions. His soul, more than his ideas and programmes, counted. With death, Alexei Navalny becomes the embodiment of a defeated Russia, showing the inconsistency of its claims to domination and empire. And it lays bare the shame of Putin's Russian world.

The Ukrainian autocephalous Orthodox Church has removed the memorial of the holy Russian prince Aleksandr Nevsky from its liturgical calendar, teh saint who defeated Westerners in the 13th century and was the forerunner of the alliance with the Asian empires. While Kirill would like to canonise the great generals of Russian military history.

Internationally, 27 January is Holocaust Remembrance Day, but in Russia it also commemorates the lifting of the Siege of Leningrad. Now for Russians, the Holocaust is no longer about the extermination of the Jews, but as a Nazi crime against various peoples, starting with the Soviets. In Kirill and Putin’s version, Moscow is presented as the bastion against the "hegemonic genocide" of the West.

Russian state media depict Lenin as "the inventor of Ukraine", therefore the real culprit of the ongoing conflict, as opposed to the enlightened leadership of Stalin. In reality, Putin is the inventor of a new mythological Russia, who rereads ancient and recent stories in his own way to impose a new empire.

The final celebration of the Christmas season, which took place yesterday according to the Orthodox tradition, includes immersion in icy water in Russia as an experience of physical and spiritual rebirth. As the ritual is celebrated, the philosopher Alexander Shchipkov penned an article outlining the features of an “education in moral values", the heart of the union between religion and politics in vogue today in Moscow.

All private military companies similar to Wagner have now been assimilated by the new imperial opričnina. As at the end of Ivan's reign, even in Putin's twilight, after the final deification of the presidential elections next March, the real question will be how far the teams of power-mongers will be able to maintain an internal balance among themselves.

In Russia, Christmas falls on 7 January following the Julian calendar, highlighting especially this year, the proclamation by the Moscow Patriarchate that it is the "one true Church”. Yet, the revival of patriotic faith is not the only definition of Russian Orthodoxy today. There is also the path of those who, like the exiled Protoiereus Andrey Kordochkin, pray with the words: “Give me back my mother!”

Television in Russia serves to 'close ranks', to feel like a member of the military parade in front of the Kremlin, which is broadcast on every solemn occasion, including New Year's Eve in various formats, especially in these times of war.

For the first time, Ukraine is set to celebrate the Nativity of Christ in a unified way on 25 December, a symbolic event for its new identity. But the country’s real challenge is to take control of the game away from Putin, truly showing the world the face of a new people, beyond any rationale of war.

December 12 celebrated the 30th anniversary of the post-Soviet Constitution, approved by Yeltsin. Charter traced by Putin back to Stalinist totalitarianism, though without imposing a new one in his name. Even in the major revision of 2020 (over 200 amendments) the charade of "democratic Russia" remains. With the March 17 vote, the president intends to usher in "year zero of the new era."

Many people merge and mix with the figure of the president in economic, military, religious, and social affairs, but also for ideological and cultural reasons.