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Putin calls Russian troops’ war duty a sacred mission
President Vladimir Putin attended an Orthodox Christmas service on Wednesday morning, praising soldiers for their divine duty to defend Russia as the war in Ukraine nears its fourth anniversary. At the Church of St George the Victorious on Moscow’s Poklonnaya Hill, Putin told uniformed troops and their families that Russian warriors have historically fulfilled a sacred mandate to protect the Fatherland.
“Russian warriors have always, as if by the will of the Lord, accomplished this mission of defending the Fatherland and its people, saving the Motherland and its people,” Putin said after the service. “In all eras in Russia, people have regarded their warriors as those who, as if by the will of the Lord, carry out this sacred mission.” His words framed the ongoing conflict as a continuation of Russia’s storied tradition of spiritual and patriotic resistance.
The appearance comes as Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine, launched on 24 February 2022, approaches the end of its fourth year. The Kremlin increasingly portrays the war as a national crusade, drawing heavily on patriotic and religious symbolism to sustain support for what Moscow terms a “special military operation.” Putin has leaned into this narrative to bolster domestic resolve amid mounting battlefield challenges.
On the eve of Christmas on 6 January, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia blessed Putin, the government and the armed forces during holiday celebrations. The patriarch also consecrated crosses and icons that will be engraved with Putin’s initials and distributed to Russian military commanders fighting in Ukraine. “May God’s blessing rest upon our president, the authorities, the army and all of us, preserving deep faith in our hearts and fidelity to the Lord,” Kirill said in a sermon at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, intertwining church authority with state war aims.
In a Christmas message posted on the Kremlin website, Putin commended the Russian Orthodox Church and other Christian denominations for “strengthening social unity” and preserving Russia’s historical and cultural heritage. He noted that religious organisations focus on mercy and charity, providing support to both active duty personnel and war veterans, further embedding the church in the war effort.
The religious ceremony unfolds against intensified fighting in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian military sources claim Russian losses have surpassed 1.2 million since the invasion began. Russia announced on 7 January that it had captured the Ukrainian city of Kurakhove in the east, a claim that if verified would mark another incremental advance in a grinding attritional campaign. Putin has attended Orthodox Christmas services since 2000, often outside Moscow, but has increasingly marked the holiday near the capital since the war started. This year’s venue, the Church of St George the Victorious, was consecrated in 1995 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of victory in the Second World War, evoking parallels to past existential struggles.
