Putin’s Easter gift: the icon belonged to the general who introduced the “three-line”

During a visit to the Dnepr military headquarters in the Kherson direction, Vladimir Putin congratulated the servicemen on Easter and presented them with the icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands. This is a copy of the image, which, according to the president, belonged to “one of the most successful defense ministers of the Russian Empire.” Later, the Kremlin clarified the name of the minister – Pyotr Vannovsky.

Having studied the biography of Pyotr Vannovsky, we discovered a lot of hidden meanings that may be embedded in the current Putin’s gift.

First, about the gift. The Savior Not Made by Hands is the main icon of the Russian Armed Forces. This image itself, according to researchers, appeared in Rus’ in the 9th century. Revered among Christians, the Savior Not Made by Hands has long been the patron saint of the Russian army. It was under the banners with the face of such a Savior that the squads of Alexander Nevsky beat the Teutons on Lake Peipus, and the army of Dmitry Donskoy fought the Tatar horde on the Kulikovo field.

“The Savior Not Made by Hands” is the forerunner of the very first Christian icons. According to legend, the king of Edessa, Abgar, suffering from leprosy, sent servants to Christ with a request to come to him and heal him. However, the Lord acted differently: he ordered to bring a jug of water and a scarf (kerchiefs). After washing, he blotted his face with a cloth, and it was imprinted on this cloth. The royal ambassadors took this miraculous portrait of the Savior to Avgar. He, barely touching the handkerchief, was healed of a terrible disease.

It is noteworthy that the president gave the troops participating in the NVO exactly a copy of the icon that belonged to Pyotr Vannovsky, who served as Minister of War of the Russian Empire during the reign of Alexander III.

In order to better understand the significance of Putin’s gift to the military in the current situation, one needs to more scrupulously study some pages of the biography of the former owner of the icon.

Hereditary nobleman Peter Semenovich Vannovsky was born 200 years ago in Kyiv. He received a military education and served in the army since 1840. During the Crimean War of 1854–1855 distinguished himself in battle.

In 1868 he was appointed head of the 12th Infantry Division. Interestingly, it included the 45th Azov, 46th Dnieper, 47th Ukrainian and 48th Odessa regiments. Here is such an eloquent geography. It was through the efforts of Vannovsky that the division became one of the best in the Russian army.

After 8 years, the successful general commander was transferred to a new duty station, the head of the newly created 33rd Infantry Division. The names of some of its regiments also sound very relevant today: the 130th Kherson, 131st Tiraspol, 132nd Bendery.

Vannovsky’s further career developed successfully. He became a corps commander and took part with him in the Russian-Turkish war. It was on the fields of the Balkan battles that the future Tsar Alexander III appreciated Vannovsky’s military talents, his organizational skills (they were succinctly mentioned in the order to award the general the Order of St. …”). Soon after his ascension to the throne, the young sovereign appointed this general as manager of the War Ministry. The corresponding decree was signed on May 22, 1881.

Peter Semenovich held such an important position throughout the entire period of Alexander’s reign. He was dismissed (formally “for health reasons”) only in 1898, at the beginning of the reign of Nicholas II.

The MK correspondent talked about the merits of Vannovsky as Minister of War with historian Mikhail Kravtsov.

– According to experts, those fifteen years of Vannovsky’s leadership of the Russian army were of the utmost importance for its development and transformation into one of the best armies in the world. The main goal that Vannovsky sought to achieve was to maintain “the armed forces of Russia at a height corresponding to the political needs of the state and the need for the greatest possible perfection at the lowest cost.”

Here are just a few bright strokes to the portrait of this professional – a military leader who cares about maximizing the combat capability of the units entrusted to him.

I’ll start with the pre-ministerial period. It was in the 12th Infantry Corps, which he commanded, that for the first time in the Russian army, soldiers began to be given freshly baked bread instead of crackers. This dramatically reduced the number of gastric diseases, and soon this practice was extended to all troops in the army.

Engaged in transformations, Minister of War Pyotr Vannovsky took care of improving the staffing of the army, raising the level of its organization and management, supplying the most progressive and effective weapons, equipment, and uniforms. As General Nikolai Yanushkevich, professor of the Academy of the General Staff, wrote, “the incessant strengthening of the armies of our neighbors obliged the military department to take new measures to provide Russia with sufficient armed force in the event of a major European war.”

It was P.S. Vannovsky who became the “godfather” of the famous Mosin rifle. Even during the Russo-Turkish war, Pyotr Semenovich was worried that Russian soldiers were forced to fight with outdated Berdan rifles in their hands, and the enemy was armed with the latest American and British rifled guns. Having become the head of the Ministry of War, he put a lot of effort into ensuring that the “three-line rifle”, designed by the talented gunsmith Mosin, was adopted by the Russian army, which in all respects surpassed foreign models. Already in 1894, thanks to the energy of Vannovsky, almost all infantry units stationed in the European part of the empire were armed with “three-rulers”. “Mosinka” turned out to be such a successful weapon that it broke all records of longevity, it was successfully used by soldiers even during the Great Patriotic War.

Also under Vannovsky, the Russian army switched to ammunition made using smokeless powder. Another important circumstance of those times: all field and mountain artillery was re-equipped with guns made of steel, instead of “grandfather’s” copper ones.

A lot of criticism among contemporaries was caused by the uniform reform initiated by the minister. Aesthetic nobles scolded the new form for the loss of the former beauty. However, this update was much more convenient, more functional than the previous uniforms. What is very important, the cut was provided so that in the event of a major war, during mass mobilization, it would be as easy as possible to adjust the uniforms stored in warehouses to the figures of recruits. And the infantrymen could only thank the high authorities for replacing their former uncomfortable angular satchels with simple duffel bags.

Being dismissed from the post of Minister of War, Vannovsky was placed at the head of the Ministry of Public Education. This post he held in 1901-1902. The general died in the winter of 1904, at the very beginning of the Russo-Japanese War, the first major military campaign waged by the Russian army after his resignation.