Especially in the summer, the great monastery of Valaam, lapped by the dark, tree-ringed waters of Lake Ladoga, in northwestern Russia, can be a wonderfully calm and inspiring location. It is also a favourite haunt of Vladimir Putin, who has been paying regular visits since at least 2001. This week, he took along an unlikely guest: President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, a veteran of the Soviet system who eschews the post-communist fashion for piety and cheerfully calls himself an “Orthodox atheist”.
The Economist: Why Vladimir Putin took an atheist to an ancient monastery
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarus' counterpart Alexander Lukashenko visit the Valaam Monastery on Valaam island in the northern portion of Lake Ladoga on July 17, 2019.
