January 15, 2026

How Did Putin Celebrate Orthodox Christmas?


How Did Putin Celebrate Orthodox Christmas?
Russian President Vladimir Putin celebrates Christmas at a military church near Moscow.  Office of the President of Russia

On January 7, believers of the Eastern Orthodox faith gathered to celebrate Christmas. Russian President Vladimir Putin marked the holiday by attending a Christmas service at a church near Moscow.

​This year, Putin’s annual attendance of Christmas church services made a special appeal to the children of fighters in the so-called SVO (special military operation), namely Russia’s War on Ukraine. Listening in on his address were military intelligence officers and veterans of the war.

​Putin urged children to be “proud of your fathers, your mothers, as always in our country, in Russia, we have been proud of our soldiers.”​

The president’s speech continued by contemplating the birth of Jesus and the war. Just as Jesus came to save all people, Russian soldiers must similarly defend the Motherland and its people, who, “acting at God’s command, carry out this holy mission.”

​Some ambiguity accompanied Putin’s visit to one of the churches, dedicated to St. George the Victorious. Although not formally identified, the service is believed to have been held at a military church near Moscow, on the grounds of an elite Special Purpose Center that supports military training. The likely church was completed in 2021, after being approved in 2017.

The choice reflects an ongoing trend: major religious holidays are being recast as commemorations of war, as both the Russian Orthodox Church and children are militarized.

You Might Also Like

From Toys to Training
  • October 16, 2025

From Toys to Training

Russia expands cadet kindergartens, where preschoolers train like soldiers.
A Patriarch by Any Other Name
  • May 25, 2025

A Patriarch by Any Other Name

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church has another legal name that's useful for filing taxes, avoiding sanctions, and more.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas
October 01, 2013

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.

 
At the Circus
January 01, 2013

At the Circus

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.

How Russia Got That Way
September 20, 2025

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.

A Taste of Chekhov
December 24, 2022

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

Moscow and Muscovites
November 26, 2013

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 

The Moscow Eccentric
December 01, 2016

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices
May 01, 2013

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.

Marooned in Moscow
May 01, 2011

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955