Il “Tempio della Guerra” di Putin era solo l’inizio. La Russia sta costruendo chiese, moschee e persino cappelle sotterranee per convincere la nazione che l’invasione dell’Ucraina è sacra.

It’s a full-fledged death cult

What?

And that Putin is a magi?

”[The Temple of War: People and Ideas That Made the Russian Invasion Possible](https://straightforward.foundation/books/the-temple-of-war),” by historian Ilia Venyavkin, profiles the figures who helped Vladimir Putin prime Russians for the attack on Ukraine. Venyavkin cites a visit to the Main Cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces in Patriot Park as a primary catalyst for the book. The cathedral, as Venyavkin writes in the preface, was built on Putin’s orders but “had been developing in Russian political culture for many years.” The historian draws a parallel to the Russian–Ukrainian war: Putin personally gave the order for the invasion, but the heroes of Moscow’s “Temple of War” — from Army General Sergey Surovikin to RT propagandist Margarita Simonyan — manufactured the public consent that made it possible. 

That cultural foundation extends beyond the capital: The Main Cathedral is hardly the country’s only church dedicated to war and Russian soldiers. Since 2022, new churches have appeared nationwide to commemorate not only World War II casualties but also Russian troops killed in Ukraine. From mosques honoring the “fallen heroes of the Special Military Operation” to underground chapels in active war zones, Meduza examines the expanding legacy of Russia’s military places of worship.

# Main Cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces, Odintsovo District, Moscow Region

Built in just two years, the Main Cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces opened in 2020 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War (Russia’s name for the Soviet campaign against Nazi Germany during World War II). Standing at 95 meters (more than 310 feet) tall with its cross, it is among the world’s tallest Orthodox churches, second in Moscow only to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The cathedral comprises an upper church and a smaller lower church. Expansive mosaics adorn the upper church: some portray Orthodox saints while others depict battle scenes and military figures. The museum houses artifacts and historical exhibits, including personal items that belonged to Adolf Hitler. The cathedral falls under the authority of Patriarch Kirill.

Here is how Venyavkin writes about the symbolic meaning of the Main Cathedral’s details: “On the personal orders of [Defense Minister] Sergey Shoigu, every centimeter in the cathedral had to mean something. The bell tower was made 75 meters high (matching the number of years since Victory Day), the diameter of the main dome’s drum is 19 meters 45 centimeters (in honor of the year the war ended), the diameter of the dome itself is 22 meters 43 centimeters (Germany’s capitulation was signed at 22:43 [10:43 p.m.]).”

“German weapons captured as war trophies were melted down and embedded in the temple’s steps. The church’s principal icon — the ‘Image of Christ Not Made by Hands’ — was painted on wooden boards salvaged from an 18th-century gun carriage, with the backs reinforced using rifle stocks. Stained-glass windows feature Soviet military orders, battle standards hang along the walls, and inscriptions styled in Old Russian calligraphy adorn the surfaces.”