What is the 'Russian cultural code'?

0:00This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. I am Nina Khrushcheva, the great-granddaughter of Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the Soviet Union in 1962. And I'm Max Kennedy, the nephew of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. We explore what was a terrifying moment in history. The story of the Cuban Missile Crisis. How close the world came to nuclear war. And what they had to do to pull it back from the brink. The bomb, Kennedy and Khrushchev. All episodes available now, wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

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1:15There's a new catchphrase in Moscow Circles that aims to define what it means to be Russian.

1:27It translates as the Russian Cultural Code. It's a phrase that's left plenty of people scratching their heads. Not many people in Russia know what it means, actually. I think different people give different definitions. This elusive idea has crept into every aspect of life. We see it in the entertainment industry, in cinema, in movies, TV shows, music, art, fashion, and definitely social media as well. This isn't a grassroots movement. The president has made the point of spelling it out again and again.

2:05From about 2014, we see Putin saying Russian people, unlike people from elsewhere in the world, they believe in a higher moral purpose. They're less calculated, they're less pragmatic, their focus is not on themselves, it's on the help to other people, and it's in our cultural and genetic code.

2:28The Russian cultural code is widely invoked yet frustratingly vague, and it has gone largely under the radar of Western media. In this episode, we go on a mission to crack it, so we understand how Russians are meant to live by it.

2:48Welcome to the documentary from the BBC World Service. I'm Krasi Ivanova-Twig, and this is the global jigsaw from BBC Monitoring, where we look at the world through the lens of its media, exploring the narratives, the propaganda and the disinformation.

3:09Western countries are not the international community. That era has finished.

3:19The starting point of our journey is not one you'd expect from this show. It's fashion, because what people wear tells a story of its own. You know, what people wear, it just reflects mood in the society. Our researcher Yulia Valovik has a long-standing and lively interest in Russian fashion. I brought this fashion item. This is made by my friend in London who collects Russian Polk artifacts. Polk artifacts. Show us, show us. OK. Oh, gosh. What is it? Well, this is a kokoshnik. It's a traditional Russian Polk headdress. it sits vertical on your head I mean just if you want to have a general idea what it's like you can look at Michael Vruble's picture like a swan princess for example and it's like a tiara it sits quite high up it's got a fabric at the back and it's decorated it could be very heavily decorated according to status and so on it was quite expensive and in villages it was inherited by generations because you would wear it to social gatherings and it was just indication of your status.

4:34And if you don't have an expensive good one, you have to borrow it. I grew up reading Russian fairy tales. So Vasilisa Prakrasna would have worn this. Well, exactly. Oh, yeah, absolutely. She will. You know, Snigurочка, it's a fairy tale character. Snow White. Exactly. It's a Russian response to Snow White. Do you mind putting it on? Okay. I thought you would wear it. No, I want to see you. Because you, with blonde hair and blue eyes, you would make a perfect снегурочка. When the Russian president, who is said to be a history buff, talks not of tanks but of tiaras, it's a signal that symbolism matters.

5:13He's not the first Russian leader to concern himself with women's dress code and spark a fashion movement in the process. Kokoshnik, in fact, has been seen as a symbol of Russian identity for a long time. Even Peter the Great, who was promoting everything Western in Russia, he banned Kokoshniks from wearing at the court. And Nicholas I in 1833, again by royal decree, he introduced Kokoshnik for ladies to wear at the court. Then it was adopted by the higher class. And now, by presidential approval, the Kokosnik is officially in to become the latest must-wear garment. They're quite popular. We see it on the streets of Moscow, apparently, and on Instagram as well.

6:06Another fashion-conscious member of our Russia team, Veronica Malinboim, approaches the story with scientific precision. If you look at the Russian search engine Yandex, we see the average number of searchers for kokoshnik almost doubled between August 2023 and July 2025. We also see over 116 ,000 posts with kokoshnik hashtag on Instagram.

6:36Apparently, the word kokoshnik comes from an old Slavic word kokoshka, which means hen. The shape resembles the comb on top of a chicken's head. So what are we to read into the return of this eyecatcher? This idea of the Russian style and the return to everything Russian is becoming more prominent in fashion. So, for example, lapty, which is traditional shoes woven from tree barks, but now they're done in leather with little piercing ornaments. or kasovarotkas, which is a Russian peasant shirt, usually worn by men. And this is also being modernized to be wearable in the city. Or sarafal, which is a traditional Russian peasant dress.

7:21Kokoshniks, of course, but we now see them in leather and velvet and muted colors so they can be worn in everyday looks. I've seen more stylized versions, just very sleek and simple, just a slightly exaggerated headband or tiara. But this is, it's a statement of something, right? It's a statement of probably national identity. It's a great symbol of Russian culture in a good way, in a bad way as well. If you want to make a bold statement about being Russian, I think Kokosnik is the best symbol of it. Also, because now Kokosnik represents what government and Russian authorities want. And it represents conformity in that way as well.

8:07Who are the pioneers who set the tone for this new style? Some government officials, they're trying to incorporate this Russian-ness into their look. Maria Lvova-Belova, who is Russia's children's rights on this moment, wanted by the International Criminal Court for abducting Ukrainian children. She wore a kakoshnik to meet Putin. So Vladimir Vladivosti's inspection has passed. The regions have started to implement something. State Duma deputy Ksenia Goračeva, who actually sometimes voices a little bit liberal takes for the modern day in Russia, but she wears kakoshniks to Duma. We see some military elements, for example, Anna Tsavileva, who is a deputy defense minister, and no surprise there.

8:58I remember her wearing various different costumes that incorporated military symbols. The deputy defense minister was visiting wounded soldiers in a military hospital in the Klippi herd. After all, Russia is a country at war, one that has taken countless Russian and Ukrainian lives. So no surprises there, as Veronica points out, that these rustic elements are fused with military flair. to create a patriotic capsule collection.

9:30The Kokoshnik's debut on the world stage wasn't a catwalk moment. It photobombed the world's favourite sporting tournament. Kokoshnik became hugely popular in 2018 during the Football World Cup that was held in Russia when female fans were wearing them at the matches. One story that stuck with me from the 2018 World Cup in Russia was an MP warning Russian women not to sleep with foreign visitors.

10:02Striking example of the patriotic vibe that's now stitched into the fashion narrative. Actually, Kokushnik started appearing in designer's collection in 2011. That's before the annexation of Crimea. Brands like Patriotka, which means patriot, promote them on social media.

10:26Ladies wear them to state Duma, and Putin praises young ladies for wearing them. So it is obviously very popular, and it became a symbol of so-called Russian coat. I call it patriotic wave, Alena Akhmadulina's collection. It was the first bold statement of Karkosznik. She made them from fur and imagine like a huge fur collar standing vertically on someone's head. Quite a statement. Quite, quite. Why do we see a return to the past now? One of very famous modern fashion historians, he thinks that patriotic moods, patriotic thinking rises before big wars, and he draws parallels with the beginnings of 20th century.

11:18Before the start of the First World War, people started wearing a lot of this kakoshnik, like sleeveless fur-trimmed vests and embroidered shirts. I believe Russian authorities need some buzz phrases to promote Russianness, and Russian tradition to justify the war. So it's all to do with the war, this kind of nurturing, a patriotic feeling by resurrecting old symbols and old garments. It's a very philosophical question. It's about arguing what comes first. There is some genuine interest to folk tradition and history and culture going separately from the war, there was something that was happening naturally.

12:14It wasn't necessarily only promoted by state, I would say. I think that's something that coincides and goes parallel with the patriotic wave which started after the collapse of the Soviet Union and it could be traced not only in fashion but in films and in music, for example. I grew up in the Soviet Union. Any folk art and folk traditions were reaching masses in a very diluted and caricature form. So it caused strong rejection in my generation. So it could be just overcompensation for people who completely forgot about their ethnic roots and they started to rediscover them. I am Nina Khrushcheva, the great-granddaughter of Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the Soviet Union in 1962.

13:12And I'm Max Kennedy, the nephew of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. We explore what was a terrifying moment in history. The story of the Cuban Missile Crisis. How close the world came to nuclear war. And what they had to do to pull it back from the brink. The bomb, Kennedy and Khrushchev. All episodes available now, wherever you get your BBC podcasts. America is changing. And so is the world. But what's happening in America isn't just a cause of global upheaval. It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere. I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, D.C. I'm Tristan Redman in London. And this is The Global Story.

13:54Every weekday, we'll bring you a story from this intersection, where the world and America meet. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. The Interview. The best conversations from across the BBC. Today we are spending trivians on war and peanuts on peace. With the people shaping our world. You're making decisions that will have long-term consequences for the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Wind power in the United States has been subsidized for 33 years. Solar for 25 years. That's enough. The interview from the BBC World Service. Listen now wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

14:38You're listening to the documentary from the BBC World Service. The Kokosnik seems to have become a poster image for something bigger. The Russian cultural code. It's the threat running through fashion, music, and books. But what does it actually mean?

15:04Not many people in Russia know what it means, actually. Different people described it as Russia's cultural heritage, traditions, mentality, shared values, or just general norms of behavior and upbringing. It's what a certain sign, word, phrase or gesture or symbol would mean. When identity gets appropriated by those at the top, it gets an ideological twist. For Russian authorities, however, and Putin in particular, it's beyond cultural heritage, beyond context or even shared history. It almost gets an existential weight to it. Because for Putin, it's about how Russians are distinct from and also superior to the West.

15:52In 2012, Putin was talking about the preservation of civilizational identity, which, according to him, rests on preserving the Russian cultural dominance, about how this cultural code is coming under serious attack from the West. They didn't dream about the West. That's what Vladimir Putin said.

16:12It's not us doing something wrong. It's just the whole world is trying to destroy us. And all of that really plays into this idea of the preservation of the foundation of the Russian statehood. He also mentioned that the ongoing war on Ukraine was a path to cleansing and renewal. So everything is so existential and so grand, and I think it's deliberately made so to attach a lot of purpose to what's going on right now. In his national development strategy for 2012-2025, he's talking about some fundamental principles which combine and unite the distinctive traditions of all the different ethnic minorities that reside in Russia and how they need to be preserved into a single Russian culture.

17:02Putin begins to almost, I want to say deliberately, confuse the cultural code with the genetic code of the Russian people. In 2014, he's saying Russian people, unlike people from elsewhere in the world, they believe in a higher moral purpose. They're less calculated. Their focus is not on themselves. It's on the help to other people. And it's in our cultural and genetic code.

17:32It's almost like a deliberate way of showing how deeply rooted this concept is. It's in the genes. You're born with it. Nuclear families, very traditional and conservative understandings of gender roles and rejection of any external pressure. You are listening to The Global Jigsaw from BBC Monitoring. Let's look into gender roles. What kind of a woman should the Russian woman be, according to Putin? He was meeting with female entrepreneurs, talking about how women take on many different roles. However, thank God, in Russia, we do not mix the notion of a woman being a woman and a man being a man.

18:19He was talking about how respect for parents, country, region, elders, and motherland is also a part of Russia's stability. All of these meanings that Putin assigns to the concept of the cultural code combined with very heavy state censorship and state propaganda. It definitely serves as a way to unite the whole of Russia, especially at times of war and international isolation. The president gave the pitch for others around him to pick up the tune. This is about the education of children, the formation of their right legal orientations. Valentina Matryenko, head of the upper chamber of the Russian parliament, she was talking about the cultural code in terms of education of the children, how the future of Russia as a great power depends on it.

19:11Sergei Lavrov was also using this concept to add value to the concept of the multipolar world where the West is no longer a hegemon.

19:25He was saying how the various cultural codes are now shaping this new world order. We see it in entertainment industry, in cinema, in movies, TV shows, music, art, fashion, and definitely social media as well. Enter the digital foot soldiers, those entrusted with carrying the button of the Russian cultural code. It could be your fashion influencer or blogger promoting Russian brands, or it could be a travel blogger who is showing you the beauties and the benefits of the domestic travel.

20:08Especially scenes, it's quite problematic for Russians to travel to the Western countries nowadays because of the sanctions and the war. Or it could be your ultra-patriotic bloggers, whose content is basically centered around edits of Putin or Lavrov, or footage of military parades. You are a fashion artist, and then you can see it. God bless you, God bless you. Orthodox priests are also emerging as a new sort of subgroup of Russian bloggers promoting traditional values because the Russian Orthodox Church is also realizing the potential of social media and is definitely investing in that, but in a very fun and youth-friendly way.

20:50We are afraid to be gay. My name is Ekaterina, I'm a Catholic priest. You see the wives of priests, which is a very interesting subgroup, I think, who are sort of mixing fashion influencer posts with religious teaching. So you would get like five looks to where to church this autumn, for example. Sounds like the equivalent of the footballer's wife phenomenon. It definitely resembles that to some degree. What's in it for these influencers in Russia? What are they getting for what they're doing? Not all of them are immediately sponsored by the government or receive some sort of state funds. For example, one semi-famous fashion blogger was invited to the Russian parliament to a run-table discussion about the promotion of a Russian cultural code in the blogosphere.

21:41The Council of Bloggers was founded in 2020, and it openly declares its cooperation with parliament. A lot of them have over 1 million subscribers. They promote to various degrees Russian narratives and Russian propaganda and collect aid for soldiers at the front line fighting in Ukraine. There is still some evidence of Russian government trying to create the next generation of such bloggers via various educational events, competitions. You get some blogger boot camps where they teach them how to promote traditional values.

22:20In 2024, there was an initiative to create a registry of bloggers who promote traditional and patriotic values.

22:32Support from the state comes with strings attached. Bloggers who prefer to remain free-range could be hit in the pocket. It's very important to remember that if you are a blogger on Telegram, which is one of Russia's most popular social media platforms, and your following is over 10 ,000 people, you are obliged to register with Roskomnazor, which is a state watchdog. And if you don't get this registration and verification, you are then not allowed to accept donations from your followers or advertise. And advertisers, in turn, are told to check the registry and their content compliance, while state officials are also urging bloggers to promote Russian culture at home and abroad.

23:15If you're a blogger, the least you should be doing if you want to remain in Russia is not to angry the authorities. So there is a degree of self-censorship. But if you want state support, then you should probably think about cooperating with the government or you have to be neutral at the very least. What role does traditional fashion media play in shaping these values? Or has it too become a tool of the state? It's interesting because the sort of glam that came to replace the fashion magazines that departed Russia after the invasion is not as obviously propagandistic as you would imagine. So the main one is called Moskvichka, a Moskvite, and it self-identifies as a post-sanctions glam.

24:07and it definitely idealizes the life in the new reality praises new domestic tourist destinations glorifies life in russia during their presentation they had girls dancing in but they don't necessarily directly talk about women's roles or promoting those very obvious values. And it also has really fun little side projects.

24:40There's Moskvich, which is a male version of Moskvichka, of the same magazine, so basically it's a Russian GQ. The Russian cultural code has rippled through many other areas and now echoes through music, films, entertainment, and the rhythm of daily life. In terms of cinema and culture, we see that Russia plans to allocate over 460 million rubles annually to support the production of domestic films aimed at promoting spiritual and moral values.