Quora
May 15, 2025
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine isn’t just about borders or NATO. It’s a symptom of something far deeper and darker. It reveals the collapse of a society that has lost its soul and is trying to reclaim purpose through violence.
This is not a strong, God-fearing, tradition-rooted nation. It is a country in moral freefall, clinging to the aesthetics of Orthodoxy and patriotism while rotting from within.
Look at the facts:
- Russia has the highest divorce rate in Europe, around 67 percent. The family unit is collapsing.
- Over 70 percent of Russians claim to be Orthodox, but less than 6 percent attend church regularly. Faith is cultural theater, not lived conviction.
- Over 500,000 abortions were performed in 2020 alone. This is not the behavior of a pro-life, traditionalist society.
- Alcoholism kills one in five Russian men. Entire regions are haunted by addiction and despair.
- The fertility rate is approximately 1.41 children per woman, far below the replacement level of 2.1. Despite years of financial incentives and nationalist rhetoric, Russia’s population is shrinking and aging
- The country ranks 136th out of 180 in the Corruption Perceptions Index. There is no trust, no honesty, no integrity at the top.
And yet, the Kremlin dresses this decay in pageantry. Military parades. Orthodox processions. Imperial rhetoric. It puts on the mask of tradition while every moral foundation beneath it crumbles.
When a nation loses inner order, when it loses faith, virtue, and family, it starts looking for meaning elsewhere. Russia has found that meaning in conquest. War becomes the answer to a spiritual crisis no one dares to name.
We’ve seen this before. Germany in the 1920s and 30s was a broken society too, confused, bitter, and morally bankrupt. And just like Russia now, it chose war and myth over repentance and restoration.
Russia is not a bastion of tradition. It is a collapsing empire projecting strength abroad to distract from weakness at home. Its war in Ukraine is not a demonstration of power. It is a confession of decay.