The concept of “Gathering in the Russian lands” dates back at least to Ivan III in the 15th century. It has been much beloved of every Tsar who followed, including the latest one – Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. The “Gathering” idea is that Moscow brings under its control all of the “Russian world”. The definition of “Russian world” is elastic.
Unfortunately for Putin, it’s taken a bit of a blow, what with more than 10,000 Ukrainian troops now gathering parts of Russia’s Kursk region under their control. This may be a relatively limited cross-border operation, but it’s also the first time since WWII that a Russian leader has overseen the loss of territory to foreign troops. That is beyond embarrassing for a man who says he turns to history to gain “a better understanding of the present and look into the future.”
Putin has long been a keen student of Russian history, as shown in his 2021 essay, “On the historical unity of Russians and Ukrainians”.
