Tsarist Resonance and the Renewal of a Grandeur-Tainted Script
May 7, 2018, was the day the Grand Kremlin Palace was a stern symbol of Russia's deep-rooted imperial legacy. The air was thick with ceremony as Vladimir Putin vowed for his fourth term as Russia's President. The anthemic themes of "Glory" from Mikhail Glinka's opera A Life for the Tsar resonated in the gilded corridors, its deep notes echoing in a manner befitting the grandeur of the Russian imperial legacy. Cannons roared in the distance outside, echoing imperial eras. Within the Palace, the imperial pomp, now re-modeled and stripped of monarchic eulogy, still conveyed unmistakable messages of Russian imperial aspirations. These symbols were not sentimental reminders of a bygone tsarist era; they formed the foundation of a political ideology constructed by Putin, one that wed the Russian Orthodox Church to the imperial authority of the past. In this symbolic resurrection, Russia's leadership is superior to secular; it is spiritual mission and imperial destiny.
Putin's return to power, and the greater respect for Russian Orthodoxy, is not just a nostalgic reminder of imperial greatness — it is a deliberate, measured attempt to forge a new national identity. A combination of tsarist restorationism and Orthodox Christian values, Putin's project is a bid to fabricate a "usable past" which justifies both his political authority and Russia's modern-day geopolitical ambitions. This syncretism of statecraft and religion has evolved into an ideological construct that not just consolidates Putin's homegrown power but also legitimates Russia's increasingly belligerent international politics, particularly during the war in Ukraine.
This essay discusses the evolution of Putin's neo-imperial ideology, with special reference to the way in which Orthodoxy and the imperial legacy have intermingled into a spiritual-nationalist discourse that is capable of mobilizing and legitimizing Russian actions both at home and abroad. From the sacred roots of tsarist history to the crimson redefinition of a "sacred war" in Ukraine, this ideological path presents an image of Russia as the ultimate bastion of Orthodox Christian civilization, charged with the divine responsibility of reclaiming lost territories and defending a moral order under assault from a "decadent" West.
Creating a Usable Past: From Serf Forebears to Sacred Sovereignty
Putin's personal history tends to center on the humble origins of his own family, depicting his ancestors as devoutly Orthodox peasants under the tsars. These are not works of history fiction; they are strategically deployed to highlight continuity of Russian Orthodox identity across generations. The image of Putin as a part of pious, humble kin maximizes Orthodoxy to a supreme place within his vision of Russian identity — an identity firmly rooted in holy tradition.
This reimagining of the past is strongly rooted in the ideology of "Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality," the ideological trinity promoted by Tsar Nicholas I, which still resonates in the language of Putin. Putin frequently appeals to the figures of the Tsar Peter the Great and Prince Vladimir of Kiev, not as simple historical leaders but as symbols of sacred mission and national solidarity. Putin's devotion to these leaders suggests that for him, Orthodoxy is not a personal religion but a geopolitical phenomenon, a foundational principle for the stability and sovereignty of Russia. Here in this ideological schema, Orthodoxy as a potent symbol of Russian identity is something more than personal belief and is inextricably tied to the political destiny of the state.
The utilitarian reading of history is at the core of this ideology. Putin, like so many leaders before him, employs the "usable past," calling on selective recollections and images that most speak to the national psyche. For post-Soviet Russia, this "usable past" has been crucial in re-establishing national unity in the wake of the Soviet Union's collapse. The fallen authority of the Soviet Union and resulting identity crisis have left Russia seeking a unifying principle. In this vacuum, the reassertion of Orthodox Christianity gives both cultural and moral legitimacy, affirming Putin's conception of Russia as a spiritual and imperial hub.
Christianity as State Ideology: Filling the Communist Void
The Soviet collapse in 1991 signified not only the demise of an empire but the breakdown of the ideological framework that had ruled Russia for most of the 20th century. The communists' atheistic, secular ethics left a moral and spiritual vacuum. Putin was not slow to fill this vacuum, and he drew on Orthodox Christianity as the foundation of Russian identity and state. The Russian Orthodox Church, which had been subjected to repression and persecution by the Soviet regime, was quickly restored to its former glories in the new political environment.
Orthodoxy has flourished under Putin. Church construction has sped up, religious instruction has been made a part of schools, and the state has become more reconciled with the Church both on moral and political matters. Clerics are incorporated into the army, and the state has become more willing to regard the Russian Orthodox Church as not merely a religious organization but a symbol of national cohesion. In this setup, Putin's administration has tried to consolidate its legitimacy, presenting itself not as the product of democratic processes but as the divinely appointed protector of Russian civilization.
This fusion of the Church and state has created a unique political model where religious ideology assumes a central role in the legitimation of the state. Politics is wedded to spirituality, and political power is vested with divine authority under this new Russia. The recourse to Orthodox Christianity is no longer simply an individualistic belief system of the leader but a state doctrine — a vehicle of moral guidance in a world in turmoil from rapid change.
Mobilizing Society: Reviving the Russian Christian-Imperial Mission
Having established the religious foundation of Orthodoxy, Putin went about mobilizing Russian society through a call for the restoration of traditional values. These values were couched as a reaction against Western secularism and moral relativism. Putin's vision for Russia was not only political but deeply cultural and spiritual. His government began to implement education reforms that included religious content, and military and civic rituals more closely resembled Orthodox practices. The return of the double-headed eagle as the national symbol of Russia further represented the connection to the Byzantine Empire, and therefore the "Third Rome."
This ideological change culminated in the 2014 annexation of Crimea. Putin's justification for this move invoked the sanctity of the soil, referring to Crimea as "sacred soil" and pointing towards its position at the heart of Russian Orthodox heritage. For Putin, the annexation was not merely a geopolitics exercise; it was a recovery of a divine-ordained heritage. The invocation of religious and historical language transformed a political action into a theological crusade — one that would be waged in the name of Russia's holy mission.
Defending the Holy Russian Empire, Demonizing the Enemy: The War in Ukraine
By 2013–2014, Putin's Christian-nationalist ideology had coalesced into a grander vision of a unified Slavic world — a vision in which Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus would form a single, homogeneous Orthodox Christian civilization. This vision was expressed in Putin's 2019 essay, "On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians," where he claimed that before Soviet divides, Russians and Ukrainians were united in both religion and identity. Ukraine was not to Putin an independent country but a subset of one unified Russian entity — spiritually and politically.
The 2022 invasion of Ukraine was the culmination of this vision. The war's motivations were framed in religious terms with Putin framing the conflict in the language of combatting moral decay and religious degradation. He used Peter the Great as a constant reference point in his speeches, framing his military campaigns as a divine mission to restore lost territories. The invasion's rhetoric turned eschatological in tone, with the war framed not only as a territorial struggle but as a struggle between good and evil.
In this context, Ukraine was framed as a country infected with Western secularism, liberalism, and moral depravity — forces that were seen to be undermining the moral fabric of the Slavic world. The conflict became a divine crusade to cleanse the world and put it back where it belonged in the Russian Orthodox family. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow played the central figure in this drama, consecrating the war and proclaiming Ukraine's embrace of Western values, most specifically LGBTQ+ rights, as proof of moral corruption.
War and the End of Times: Enacting an Eschatological Agenda
As the war was prolonged, Putin's rhetoric increasingly took on apocalyptic tones. Drawing themes from Orthodox eschatology, he portrayed the war as a last battle of good and evil — a final stand for civilization against chaos. Russian media, government disinformation, and church sermons all echoed these words, framing the war as a holy war against the "satanic West."
Putin's own rhetoric became most impassioned in 2022, when he used explicitly biblical language to depict the war as a test imposed by God — a trial of faith that Russia would endure to show its moral strength. Speaking, Putin quoted John 15:13, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends," presenting Russian troops as martyrs fighting for an eternal cause.
This vision of war as a divine mission imbued the war with cosmic significance. The concern was not merely territorial or political — it was religious. The strategic calculus of deterrence by force gave way to the calculus of salvation. Russia's leaders, like Putin, were both commanders-in-chief and spiritual guides, charged with guiding their country toward a divine mission.
From Memory to Mobilization, from Myth to Martyrdom
Putin's neo-imperialism is not merely a naive combination of nationalism and religious populism; it is a calculated and deliberate strategy that seeks to legitimate Russia's expansionist foreign policy and consolidate Putin's grip on power. By referring back to the sacred symbols of Orthodox Christianity and the imperial grandeur of the Russian tsars, Putin has constructed a rhetoric that situates Russia both as the spiritual heir of Byzantium and as the defender of an embattled Christian civilization.
This ideological prism forms the basis of Russian geopolitics, including Ukraine, where the conflict is not framed as a simple territorial war but as a righteous cause. This blend of religious and political rhetoric lends the powerful and appealing narrative defending not just the acts of Russia but also sacrifices and sufferings of its people in the name of a divine effort.
Here, history is not a fixed record of the past but a living, breathing prophecy — a prophecy upon which Putin is set to bring events to pass. The war in Ukraine, as the Tsarist campaigns of old, is a sacred war, one that will reclaim Russia's lost empire and make it a preeminent world leader of Christian civilization once more. Whether or not Putin's vision ultimately succeeds, the ideological edifice he has constructed will shape Russia's identity and its place in the world for decades to come.
In the end, the union of Orthodoxy and empire under Putin is not so much about recovering territory — it is about recovering a divine mission, a holy cause that transcends politics, geography, and time itself. And in this maneuver, Putin has cultivated a mythos greater than the office of the leader that offers an image of Russia as the very safe haven of religion and civilization over against the coming storms of worldwide chaos. And this is the ideological heritage with which Putin will seek to endow — the very heritage of sacred mission, imperial destiny, and religious triumph.