Kathrine Frich
A Soviet style lunar rover display stood beneath a massive cross as attendees gathered around the site.
Space exploration usually involves rockets, billions of dollars, and years of careful planning.
Nations everywhere race to plant flags on distant surfaces. Now, one group has found a much cheaper way to claim the lunar landscape.
A cosmic ceremony
The Kremlin backed Izborsk Club and the notorious Night Wolves biker gang gathered in western Russia late last month. They had a specific goal in mind.
These groups did not gather to launch a metallic vessel into orbit. Instead, they baptized the Moon.
The Russian independent outlet Agentstvo reported that the September 27 event featured a prayer service and a religious procession. It coincided with a major Orthodox feast day, according to United24Media.
A Soviet style lunar rover display stood beneath a massive cross as attendees gathered around the site. They watched a bizarre stunt show unfold.
Soil from the heavens
Biker leader Alexander Zaldostanov initially claimed his members brought a piece of a Bronze Age boulder from a neighboring region. He described the rock as having a celestial origin.
The local VGTRK television branch quickly clarified the physical reality. Behind the scenes, the bikers actually brought just a handful of soil from the site.
They placed the dirt at the base of a cross. Organizers immediately declared the material to be a sacred lunar stone, bypassing science entirely.
Defending the territory
Alexander Prokhanov chairs the Izborsk Club. He explained the peculiar reasoning behind the event to the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper.
The interviewer asked how Russia could protect its Soviet space legacy from American politicians like Donald Trump. Prokhanov offered a spiritual solution.
“Just as Rus and Russia were once baptized and Russia became Orthodox, so we decided to baptize the Moon, make it Orthodox and connect it with Russia,” Prokhanov replied.
He also claimed the boulder was a message from the heavens to ancient Russia. Agentstvo politely noted that no scientific evidence supports this wild theory.
Words over rockets
Prokhanov is not a fringe figure. Russian leader Vladimir Putin gave the writer a top medal in 2025, according to UNITED24 Media. The president praised his ability to unite society around patriotic values.
The club enjoys deep ties to the Kremlin. It creates educational materials for schools and kindergartens across the country.
This grand lunar rhetoric easily outshines the bleak reality of the national space program. A high-profile Russian spacecraft crashed violently into the Moon in 2023. Future launches keep slipping further down the calendar.
