Russian state television is flooded with anti-Ukrainian hate sessions. This applies, among other things, to the regular journalistic programme "Who protiv?" (Who against?). Thus, in one of its recent editions, a discussion heated up about the metaphysical status of Volodymyr Zelensky.

An unusual dispute broke out during the studio conversation. One of the discussants, the political scientist Araik Stepanian, declared that the President of Ukraine is... the Antichrist. He added that the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate should declare this officially. Another discussant, also a political scientist, Alexander Kamkin, replied that Zelenski is just a minor demon.

Of course, such considerations have consequences. Stepanian announced that since Zelenski is the Antichrist, there must be no negotiations with him and he must simply be annihilated.

From the point of view of a Westerner, considering political issues in religious terms appears as marginal 'fundamentalist' madness. But in Russia - as it turns out - this phenomenon is present in mainstream public life.

SIGN UP TO OUR PAGE It should be recalled, by the way, that interpreting political events using an apocalyptic code is nothing new. But in the past, this has not only applied to Russia.

It is worth recalling the early 19th century. When Napoleon 1st was conquering Europe, the political elites of the Old Continent - from Great Britain to Russia - terrified by his military successes, launched propaganda against him. Cartoonists created caricatures depicting the Emperor of the French as a servant of the devil. Such images of Napoleon were intended to arouse the fear of the popular masses.

At that time, the collective consciousness of Western societies was not yet secularised. And in the wars of the European powers against Napoleonic France, ideological issues also mattered. It was about the attitude to the French Revolution.

Although Napoleon restored elements of the monarchy on the Seine, he was seen as a champion of progress. By introducing, for example, the Civil Code, he was, after all, building the modern French state. This was one of the reasons why he aroused trepidation among the European aristocracy - which was, after all, counter-revolutionary. And since Christianity still played an important role on the Old Continent at that time, in spite of the Enlightenment, religious arguments against the changes started in France in 1789 had a persuasive effect.

Of course, comparing Zelensky to Napoleon is ridiculous. The Ukrainian president does not have the ambitions that the Corsican had. He heads a state that is bravely repelling the onslaught of a powerful neighbour. And ideological issues are irrelevant in this case.

Only that even today, the depiction of conflicts between states as a struggle between good and evil is a tool for winning public support for a particular foreign policy. But no such religious rhetoric is used in Western countries. There, the narrative of establishment politicians is most often as follows: democracies in the world are confronting tyrannies, and at stake in these clashes are the sanctities of Western liberalism: human rights (including those of various minority groups) and the freedom of the individual.

In Russia, however, things are different. This is evidenced by the call, just articulated in the Russian state media, for the Orthodox Church to declare Zelensky the Antichrist - i.e. referring to religious concepts.

What we have here, however, is political preying on Christianity. In addition, it is intriguing that this is happening in a country whose society is by no means religious (that is, only a few percent of it declares that it attends Orthodox services).

The point is that the collective mentality of Russians shows a susceptibility to a kind of political irrationality. Perhaps this is a result of the fact that Russia has not gone through the world's 'disenchanting' experiences, i.e. those of the West. It has not learned - that is, it has not worked through - medieval scholasticism, Renaissance humanism and Enlightenment rationalism, among others.

On the other hand, the creation of crusaders by people who hate Ukraine and especially its president on Russian state television brings to mind a certain literary and philosophical work that appeared in 1900: the 'Three Conversations' by the Russian thinker Vladimir Solovyov. These are three philosophical dialogues conducted by five fictional characters. The subtitle of 'Three Conversations' - and at the same time their Polish title in Aniela Czendlik's latest translation from 2021 - is 'On War, on Progress and on the End of the World'. And it reflects the theme of the work.

"Three Conversations" is, among other things, a strike against Leo Tolstoy's ethical conception. The writer in question rejected the mystery of God's incarnation in man and reduced Christianity to a socially useful project. He was a proponent of pacifism. He believed that evil could be eradicated without resisting it.

Meanwhile, unlike Tolstoy, Solovyov was not deluded about human nature. He defended the supernatural dimension of Christianity. And above all - inspired by "Scripture, the Tradition of the Church and the dictates of common sense" - he reflected on the presence of personal evil in world history. To this problem he devoted the 'A Short Tale of the Antichrist', which concludes the 'Three Conversations'. In it, Solovyov outlined a vision of the future.

Here, in the 21st century, the states of the Old Continent - more or less democratic - are merging to form the United States of Europe. In them, the decision-makers are Freemasons who want this entity to have a single leader. They see their candidate in a certain businessman and philanthropist. He advocates animal rights and the overcoming of inter-religious differences. He wants to bring about world peace and universal prosperity. But at the same time, prompted by a mysterious voice, he rejects God. He lets himself be led to believe that the death of Jesus Christ on the cross is contemptible and that people must be made happy by satisfying their earthly desires.

Reading 'Three Conversations' now, one might conclude that satanism is modern Western progressivism as a false Christianity. Except that there is much more to come from this work today.

It has become an anecdote that the leading pro-Kremlin agitator on Russian state television... also goes by the name of Vladimir Solovyov. And posing as a conservative, he attacks Western progressivism. Except that it should be noted that while this journalist is brutally ratting out the Russians to the Ukrainians, the author of 'Three Conversations' in his writings expressed sympathy for 19th century Polish aspirations for independence. And in some respects, Ukraine's current situation can be compared to that of those Polish lands that were in the Russian partition.

The contemporary Vladimir Solovyov obviously has as much in common with the 19th-century thinker of the same name as Tolstoy's ethical conception has with Christianity. On the other hand, if some opinion-makers in Russia are trying to legitimise the Kremlin's policy towards Ukraine by claiming that the Russian state upholds traditional values and that Ukraine has become an LGBT hotbed, it can be assumed that to some extent they are bewailing their compatriots in the same way that the main character of 'A Short Tale of the Antichrist' bewailed humanity.

The trouble, however, is that their statements go not only to the account of Russian Orthodoxy. It already happens in Poland that when Catholic clergy contest the left-liberal cultural agenda, then accusations of pro-Putinism are levelled at them. Only that they are based on lies.

The Catholic Church, while teaching about the presence of personal evil in the world, is not, after all, pointing the finger at anyone. Nor, in this context, does it take a political position, for it is concerned with ultimate matters. But this is what progressives do not comprehend. In their eyes, Catholicism is just a 'fundamentalist' project of an earthly order.

– Filip Memches
-Translated By Tomasz Krzyżanowski

TVP WEEKLY. Editorial team and jornalists