Russia's endless holy war
The Russian army has launched more drones and dropped more bombs on Ukraine in recent days, stressing the point that its goal is conquest despite negotiations and partition plans with Donald Trump's United States. The goal is to continue to exalt the theology of Victory, the true divinity to which every effort and every sacrifice must be dedicated.
With the coming of the third anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin was expected to make a great proclamation of victory, a possible sign that the end of the armed conflict was near.
Instead, the Russian army launched an even greater barrage of drones and bombs against the enemy over the past few days, to reiterate that its goal is conquest despite any negotiation and partition plan with the United States and Donald Trump, whose willingness to support Putin's views in every economic, military and moral aspect of geopolitics represents the real victory of the "oligarchic sovereignism" of the Russian world.
The US insistence on having access to Ukrainian rare earths for the use in new technologies, rather than presenting a plan to rebuild the land devastated by the Russians, appears to be a move inspired by the great hybrid conflict with China.
In this context, Russia moves with all possible ambiguity, knowing full well that it is not in the same league as the two great contenders in this crucial sector, but seeking advantages from both.
“Peace negotiations" can therefore be expected to last indefinitely, even with possible armistices and partial agreements, so as not to lose the advantages that come with the state of war, the only way in which Russia can continue to promote the theology of Victory, the true divinity to which every effort and every sacrifice must be dedicated.
On 23 February, the day before the anniversary of the "special military operation", Russia celebrated the Day of the Defenders of the Fatherland, a Soviet anniversary to honour the Victory in the Great Patriotic War against Nazism, which was also cheerfully celebrated as Men’s Day before Women's Day on 8 March.
In Putin's Russia, however, this date has taken on the solemn tones of the sacred war, so much so that the president chose to honour eleven Heroes of Russia in the Kremlin, stressing that “we fight for the Fatherland, doing everything possible to deliver it to future generations, to our children and our grandchildren, because this is the destiny that God has prepared for us: He has placed on our shoulders a hard, but glorious, mission, that of defending Russia.”
“It pleased God” (Это было угодно Богу, Eto bylo ugodno Bogu) to send hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers to their slaughter and to wipe out huge numbers of Ukrainian citizens. Putin told veterans of the war in Ukraine “to be faithful to the bright principles of fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers ... showing your courage. You are the sentinels guarding Russia, fighting fervently for truth and justice, for peace and the future of our people.”
To better illustrate these motivations, the tsar cited “one of the wars” of the Russian Empire in the 19th century, without mentioning any one in particular, when to defend the borders near the Danube, some military unites were launched "towards a certain death, what in military jargon is called the highest honour.”
Even before the ceremony, Putin said in his introductory speech that "Russia is ruled directly by God,” quoting the words of the 18th century German-Russian Field Marshal Burkhard Christoph Graf von Münnich, who won a victory over the Turks in 1739, and concluded that "if it is not so, it is not clear how Russia can exist.”
Putin's words were also echoed by the Supreme Mufti of Russia, Talgat Tadzhuddin, who at the end of the ceremony gave the president the shield and sword of the Defender of the Fatherland, stating that "this holiday is not reduced to an annual celebration, but lasts all year round, because there is no day without the defence of our Motherland,” words that sought to put an end to the controversy over the claims by Muslim ethnic groups against Slavic groups for the identity of the Russian Federation, which tend to re-emerge in the show of nationalist pride in the country’s various regions.
The Mufti spoke of the common defence of the “Bulgar kingdom and the Russian Empire,” giving the current president "the first title of emperor of Russia and the second title of prince of the Bulgars of the Volga and Kazan.”
The great task of the holy tsar was illustrated by the head of the Orthodox chaplains in the special operation, SVO (спецопера́ция, spetsoperatsiya) in Ukraine, the Protoiereus (protopriest or archpriest), and knight of the Three Orders of Audacity, Father Dmitry Vasilenkov, who gave an extensive interview to state agency Ria Novosti on the day of the (Male) Defenders of the Fatherland, boasting that 42,000 soldiers were baptised at the front.
He described that the holiday was celebrated in war zones with gifts brought to the soldiers from ordinary Russians, especially children, with letters and sweets, concerts in hospitals and infirmaries, remembering especially a Russian hero who died recently on the frontline, the Archpriest Mikhail Vasilev, who preached how “one must be ready to do anything for the sacred honour of defending the Fatherland.”
For this holiday, he organised shipments of boxes of socks for the soldiers, "not the ones you put on and then throw away, but the good and tactical ones, which will really please our heroes,” collected in churches to “feel close to our defenders.”
Orthodox priests are preparing great celebrations for Easter on 20 April, in the year of the 80th anniversary of the Victory, noting that in 1945 the main Christian holiday fell on 6 May, the day of Saint George the Victor, as Patriarch Kirill likes to repeat, which this year will be called the “Victorious Easter”.
The head of the Russian Orthodox said that "the Church must always be on the side of the people, embody the patriotic spirit that derives from the heritage of our saints who wanted to be defenders of the Fatherland themselves,” highlighting the words Homeland (Родина, Rodina) and Fatherland (Отечество, Otečestvo), the two Russian terms for country. These words “must always be written with a capital letter” since “for Christians the true homeland is the Kingdom of Heaven", connecting the earthly and celestial dimensions, even though some priests allowed themselves to push the ideals of "militant Orthodoxy" in the background.
As Father Vasilenkov put it, "We must not deal with the question of negotiations", leaving it in the hands of the tsar-president and the government, while steadfastly supporting the soldiers at the front and " fight in our ordinary life for the triumph of good", involved in the "great battle".
He notes that “our enemies around the world have only one purpose, that of destroying Russia, and we must win as a stronghold of morality and traditional values in the world, without nurturing unnecessary illusions.”
The chaplain voices the genuine Russian reaction to US peace proposals, seen in any case as "devilish temptations" to deprive the Russians of the purity of the defence of the faith, which is not particularly hard to do, given the hedonistic tendencies of the new American president, who wants to turn war zones into tourist resorts or mine for precious stones.
The work of military chaplains is particularly focused on overcoming "post-traumatic syndrome", which according to Father Dmitry does not depend on wounds and fighting, but on the "lack of motivation" in war actions, because people who “stand with great ideals and know why they fight do not have weaknesses in the soul, even when they are hit in the body.”
“If we do not want to deal with the rehabilitation of masses of people afterwards, we must prepare them in time, and this is the task of us priests,” he explained, noting that such work does not concern only members of the military, but the entire Russian population, starting with the elites, because “very good people can be part of a battalion, but it all depends on who is in charge.”
Faced with fears of failure, chaplains must remember that "God helps to resist and die with honour," and what matters is eternal destiny, whether one stays on earth or goes to the other world.
One cannot fight "only for money," since "one can kill, but not die” for it, as Father Vasilenkov writes in his book on the catechesis of war, “In War, the word of Donbass,” in which "the spiritual principles of true survival, not only in war, but in the extreme reality of life" are illustrated.
To spread this pastoral care even more, Orthodox chaplains have opened a Telegram channel called “To War2 (на войну, Na Voynu) to teach the “rules of spiritual security” and describe the true meaning "of death and killing, and of many other serious issues”.
These spiritual directives for “holy war” on the frontline and in life are presented as “ancient traditions of Orthodox fighters,” dating back to the "Archstrategist's Way," a late-medieval text Father Dmitry attributes "to the origins of Kievan Rus'."
The text explains that the first Russians, who were still pagans, rejected “savage actions” in combat when they became Christians, finding in Orthodoxy a “new meaning of life and war” and even today it is necessary to "educate to fight to be victorious", both on the ground and in the soul.
Generalissimo Aleksandr Suvorov, who will soon be proclaimed a saint by Patriarch Kirill, said that "God does not help bandits,” and “the Russian soldier is not a bandit". Thus, the war goes on because this is the true meaning of life for Russians.
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26/03/2022 17:17
24/06/2016 17:54
