Putin hails ‘holy mission’ of Russian troops at Orthodox Christmas service

Jan 7 (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin attended an early Wednesday Russian Orthodox Christmas service and hailed his troops’  “holy mission” to defend Russia, pairing the ceremony with a holiday address on unity, charity and support for the armed forces.

His appearance came as the war Russia launched with its full scale invasion of Ukraine nears the end of its fourth year, with the Kremlin casting the conflict as a national mission and leaning heavily on patriotic and religious symbolism.

Russian Orthodox Christmas services are held around midnight, drawing congregations for liturgies, though Putin has often attended smaller ceremonies, including inside a Kremlin cathedral.

Video footage showed Putin in a dark suit without a tie among uniformed servicemen, alongside wives and children, as clerics conducted the service at the St George Victory Bearer church near Moscow.

“Russia’s warriors have always, as if at the Lord’s behest, carried out this mission of defending the Fatherland and its people, saving the Motherland and its people,” Putin said at the church after the service.

“At all times in Russia, this is how people have regarded their warriors, as those who, as if at the Lord’s behest, carry out this holy mission.” 

In a Christmas greeting published earlier on the Kremlin website, Putin praised the Russian Orthodox Church and other Christian denominations for strengthening social unity and safeguarding Russia’s historical and cultural heritage.

He said religious organisations focus on mercy and charity, care for those in need, and support participants and veterans of the war, which Moscow calls a special military operation.

“Such important and in demand work deserves the most sincere recognition,” Putin said.

Putin has attended Christmas services since 2000, often outside Moscow, but since the war began he has more often marked the holiday near the capital, including at his Novo Ogaryovo state residence.

(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)