Russia has Again Become Muscovy and Should Be Called That, Shtepa Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Sept. 12 – The country which is now known as the Russian Federation was called Muscovy until the 18^th century and today, under Vladimir Putin, it has become Muscovy again, however hard the Kremlin tries to conceal that fact, according to Vadim Shtepa, editor of the Tallinn-based Region.Expert portal.

            There is no obstacle in international law for other countries to do so, the regionalist write says. And it is important for the future of the regions and republics now ruled from Moscow that those abroad who are free to do so take this step (moscowtimes.ru/2025/09/12/rashizm-tochnii-i-aktualnii-termin-a-kak-naschet-moskovii-a174387).

            And it is worth noting that other commentators and activists have suggested something similar, arguing that Putin’s state resembles Muscovy more than it resembles anything that might be called Russia (e.g., windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2024/09/muscovitism-must-be-rooted-out-if.html, https://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2023/11/liberal-russian-opposition-must-think.html, windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2023/08/muscovite-empire-will-disintegrate-in.html and windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2023/04/putins-break-with-europe-puts-russia-on.html).

            Such a change would make the Kremlin extremely nervous, Shtepa says, because “residents of St. Petersburg or Siberians may still be willing to call themselves Rossiyane [that is, identify as citizens of the Russian Federation, but they don’t consider themselves ‘Muscovites.’ More than that, they are highly critical of Moscow’s hyper-centralist and colonial policies.”

            Some efforts have already been made in that direction. In 2022-2023, Ukrainian activists collected more than 25,000 signatures on a petition calling on Kyiv to stop referring to the state ruled from Moscow as Russia and call it Muscovy instead and more generally to stop calling that country the Russian Federation but instead the Muscovite Federation (petition.president.gov.ua/petition/170958).

Volodymyr Zelensky promised to study this idea; but under the press of Russian invasion, the Ukrainian president has not taken a decision on the implementation of this idea. But as the war continues, he and his supporters elsewhere may choose to do so because calling Putin’s state Muscovy may transform his country more than any sanctions regime could hope to achieve.