It is a matter of great interest, whether Putin’s Russia harbours plans to celebrate the centenary of the February Revolution, which ended the Czarist regime. In a country, where any protest –let alone revolution– is severely suppressed, there seems to be no sign of the 1917 spirit around…

In fact, President Vladimir Putin appointed a commission for preparations in early January. For his part, Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church, which is also represented on the commission, urged citizens to honour the centenary with “deep reflection and sincere prayer” rather than “inappropriate celebrations.” Fully embracing the 100th anniversary of the Revolution creates a huge dilemma for the Putin Administration. Highly anxious since the beginning of a wave of revolutions besetting the world since 2011, Moscow’s apprehension in the face of the incoming centenary clashes with the claim that the Russian Federation is legally and ideologically the successor to the Soviet Union. In consideration of the fact that the Soviet Union was established on the basis of a revolution, activities to take place in late February (March, according to the Gregorian calendar) pose a serious nuisance for Kremlin.