Helge Blakkisrud is Associate Professor of Russian Area Studies at the University of Oslo Pål Kolstø is Professor Emeritus of Russian and Post-Soviet Studies at the University of Oslo

• PrefaceIntroduction: Values-based Legitimation in Putin’s RussiaHelge Blakkisrud and Pål Kolstø1. Russian Popular Values under President Putin: A ‘Conservative Turn’ – or Anomie?Guri Tyldum and Pål Kolstø2. Traditional Values and Civic Activism in RussiaAnna A. Dekalchuk, Ivan S. Grigoriev and Regina Smyth3. Values Entrepreneurship and Ideological Reaction: The Case of Konstantin MalofeevMarlene Laruelle4. ‘To Lay Down His Life for His Friends’: The Russian Orthodox Church in Search of a War TheoryMikhail Suslov5. The Moscow Patriarchate and Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine: Towards a Critical ExplanationBojidar Kolov6. The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Legitimacy of Putin’s regime: A Biopolitical PerspectiveAndrey Makarychev 7. The Path to ‘Healthy Conservativism’: Tracing Drivers and Legitimation in the Development of Putin’s new ‘ideology’Tora Berge Naterstad and Helge Blakkisrud8. Which Past is Usable for Putin’s Regime?: Analysis of Commemorative Speeches of the Russian Presidents (2000–22)Olga Malinova9. Has Social Conservative Rhetoric Boosted Putin’s Popularity? More Backfire than BenefitHenry E. HaleAppendix: Questionnaire, National sample, LegitRuss

Recommended to anyone interested in the Russian internal political dynamics. It is an important multilayered cross-section of the state of Russian society on the eve of a bloody war, which includes analysis of some important subjects that relate to the war itself.