'Divine' intervention
The thing about national pride projects is that it is always hard to judge their construction in a simple manner. On the one hand, they are a frivolous waste of resources, a way to distract the population from ever-present woes and sometimes even rewrite history in a more permanent form of propaganda. On the other hand, they serve as markers and reminders of human perseverance and ingenuity, their extraneous nature marking them as a symbol of human civilisation. Such symbols hold the power to inspire nationalism, indeed serving as some manner of temples of nationalism.
It is hard to look upon the newly constructed Main Cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces and not see it is as a way of informing Russia's new national identity. Yes, it may be a spectacularly stylised tool of military glorification that attempts to paint Russia's modern military history as something sacred but it is also a statement about where the country itself is moving in the current context. To briefly recap, the Main Cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces is a towering 95 metres tall cathedral that has been built in the Russian Revival style of architecture which weaves historical details with modern materials and techniques. The result has been described by many observers as being reminiscent of old Second World War Soviet posters, replete with religious images being adorned with iconic Kalashnikovs. It was built primarily as part of the 75th-anniversary celebrations of Russian victory in the Great Patriotic War. Inside the already impressive cathedral is the single largest collection of mosaics that have ever adorned the walls of a church. These mosaics depict a story of recent Russian military history, focusing in large part on the period the Russians refer to as the Great Patriotic War (the Second World War) but other mosaics depict more recent campaigns such as the one against the Chechen rebels. Controversially, a previous version of the mosaics also depicted the 2014 seizure of Crimea as one of the commemorated conflicts alongside the operations to bring 'peace' to Georgia and the fight to end international terrorism in Syria. The mosaics apparently featured images of Putin himself but were taken down later on account of a backlash. All in all, this particular series of mosaics cover a long list of Russian military interventions in recent times. When members of the church were asked if they wished to signify that these interventions were divine will and sacred, they replied that it was wrong to focus on one particular conflict and that the message of the cathedral was that the Russsian forces as a whole were 'blessed'.
Though the cathedral blends military and other Soviet imagery with symbols of the Russian Orthodoxy, the combination itself is not as complimentary for everyone. Many religious scholars have noted that the Soviet Union viciously targeted the church as it did with many other similar organisation. Thus, some maintain, it would be wrong to call this an Orthodox cathedral.
As some have put it, this cathedral is Putin's attempt to leave a mark on Russian history. A monument that defines Putin's efforts to paint Soviet victory in the Great Patriotic Victory as the centre of national identity. This is a symbol of such an effort, located in the heart of what has been referred to as a "military Disneyland", the Patriot Park and replete with images of the military saints of Russia. The whole complex capitalises on this quasi-religious context of viewing history. The context of the Great Patriotic War becomes important when it is reaiised that Russia sees its many sacrifices in the war as being absolutely instrumental to the victory of Allied Forces.
Ultimately, it would be easy to make many different assumptions about this steadily evolving trend of blending militaristic nationalism with religion that is being observed in Russia. Suffice to say, it is an old way of synthesising nationalistic pride in this modern era and represents a shift that the current administration has likely planned for the long term. Even as many Russians worry about whether this monument glorifies military figures in place of religious ones, the walls of this new cathedral stand ready to record newer chapters in Russia's 'blessed' military activities.
