a battle against the decadent west and used religious symbols to rouse supportthe kremlin said that during a rare visit to occupied southern ukraine in april the russian president gave troops a copy of a historic iconart historian lifshits said the trinity had helped russian rulers in difficult timescontemplating rublevs trinity helped russian princes overcome feuds he saidpopular legend has it that joseph stalin the ruthless dictator of the atheist soviet union also sought divine help in the countrys epic battle against nazi germanyaccording to one popular myth in a bid to save moscow from approaching german troops in 1941 a plane carrying an icon flew over the russian capital two years later stalin met religious leaders and blessed cooperation between the church and the soviet governmentrublevs most famous work has left the tretyakov gallery only a handful of times including during world war ii when it was evacuated to safetyin 2022 the icon travelled back to the trinity lavra of st sergius for religious celebrationsart experts said the piece suffered significant damage when it was temporarily movedlilia yevseyeva an art historian at the museum of russian icons in moscow said that if the icon leaves the tretyakov gallery for good future generations will not see it in its current statefollowing the public outcry putins spokesman dmitry peskov said the icon would be exhibited at the christ the saviour cathedral where experts will decide on its future restorationart experts are adamant the piece should not leave the museumeven members of the russian academy of sciences broke their silence saying the icon cannot be moved even for a short period of timein an open letter to the culture minister they said only a museum could ensure the preservation of rublevs trinitymasterpieces of russian icon painting and national treasures should not be exposed to unjustified risks the letter warned