Russian Soldiers are Wearing Warhammer 40K-Inspired Talismans in Ukraine

Why do symbols from this tabletop strategy game keep showing up on the Ukrainian battlefield?

Screenshot from Russian e-commerce site Ratnik Tactical. I’m not linking to them because f*ck those guys.

Russian soldiers are being equipped with “purity seals”—small, Warhammer 40,000-inspired amulets blessed by Orthodox priests to supposedly shield them from bullets on the Ukrainian front.

Yes, you read that correctly: tiny holy scrolls that seem plucked from a tabletop game about humanity’s distant, dystopian future are now going to war in the name of Russian faith and protection.

Warhammer 40,000, or "Warhammer 40K" as it’s commonly known, has a unique place in both tabletop gaming and pop culture. Launched in 1987 by the UK-based company Games Workshop, the game was originally aimed at a niche audience interested in tabletop wargaming—a mix of strategy, model-building, and storytelling.

But over the years, Warhammer 40K has expanded well beyond its tabletop roots to become a global cultural phenomenon with millions of dedicated players, an entire literary genre, video games, and now even a series on Amazon Prime starring king of the nerds Henry Cavill.

In the early 1980s, Games Workshop released Warhammer Fantasy Battle, a Tolkien-esque medieval fantasy wargame with miniature armies. Warhammer Fantasy became a cult hit in the UK, establishing Games Workshop as a significant player in the niche market.

Games Workshop

By the mid-1980s, Games Workshop’s designers decided to create a futuristic counterpart to Warhammer Fantasy—a gritty, sci-fi universe that maintained the company’s signature aesthetic of dark, hyper-detailed, and somewhat archaic design.

The result was a hardcover rulebook called “Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader” which hit the shelves in 1987.

I’m dating myself here, but I started playing Warhammer 40K in 1992, a short 5 years after the 40K world was created.

Warhammer 40K's setting is as bleak as it is imaginative. Set 40,000 years in the future, the game’s universe is a dystopian vision where humanity is united under a massive, galaxy-spanning empire ruled by a semi-divine, eternally dying Emperor.

Technology is both advanced and primitive, as humanity’s understanding of the very devices it wields has decayed into dogma and superstition. The ‘Imperium of Man’, as it’s called, is in a perpetual state of war with various alien races and cosmic horrors.

It was this “grimdark” tone—a term now synonymous with Warhammer 40K—that set it apart from other sci-fi of the time.

Games Workshop

Here, no one is truly good; humanity is just as brutal, xenophobic, and flawed as its enemies. The dark themes resonated with fans, who were used to lighter, more optimistic sci-fi like Star Trek and even Star Wars. Over time, this "grimdark" aesthetic became a defining characteristic of 40K, with this tagline immortalized in gaming culture:

"In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war."

The game itself is played using highly detailed miniature figures, which players build and paint themselves, making each army a personal work of art. Players control factions from the universe's different races, including the Imperium’s iconic Space Marines, the alien Tau, the barbaric Orks, the insidious forces of Chaos, and many more.

Games are played on detailed, often hand-crafted battlefields, with players maneuvering their forces according to rules that simulate combat in the 40k universe.

Games Workshop

In the 1990s, Games Workshop began publishing novels through their Black Library imprint, expanding on the lore and providing fans with detailed stories that delved into the politics, characters, and philosophical themes of the 40k universe.

Most of them are on my bookshelf in my office.

One of the author’s bookshelves. This one is in my office. Lots of 40K books here.

The 40k fandom is a dedicated, creative, and sometimes eccentric community that celebrates the dark satire, absurdity, and richness of the setting. The game’s themes—humanity's struggle against both external and internal threats, religious fanaticism, and the cyclical nature of war—have struck a chord, making it a lasting symbol of our fascination with dystopian futures.

In a way, the game’s growth mirrors the dystopian, ever-expanding nature of Russia’s own empire—a universe where the only constant is, indeed, war.

So, what’s this about Russian soldiers wearing 40K-Inspired Amulets?

For the uninitiated, one faction in 40K, the “space marines,” wear thick armor, each piece adorned with ritualistic seals bearing prayers and waxed symbols.

In the 40K universe, these are called Purity seals, and take the form of prayers or litanies inscribed onto paper and then affixed to the Space Marine armor.

Now, thanks to Ratnik Tactical, a Russian military equipment maker, soldiers get to channel their inner space marine as they don these surreal talismans on real-life battlefields.

In a Telegram post, Ratnik declared, “The best warriors of humanity applied scrolls with prayers and promises to their armor before the battle... Russian soldiers are rightfully the best warriors of humanity and can also wear such scrolls into battle.”

Ha! Ahem. Oh, you’re serious. Right.

Reportedly, thousands of these seals have already made their way to the frontlines, bringing…well, "hope" to Russian soldiers in moments of existential dread.

Video Above: A Russian soldier with a Warhammer 40K “purity seal” on his right shoulder.

The amulets, inspired by Psalm 90—a psalm centered on the brevity of life—replace Warhammer’s skull motifs with Christian symbols and are priced at a modest 9 quid each. They even come in “regular” and “sooty” versions for the aesthetically discerning Russian soldier.

Military historian and blogger ChrisO_wiki, who tracked the phenomenon, noted on X that these seals have been consecrated by priests at Russia’s Main Cathedral of the Armed Forces in Kubinka.

This cross-section of church-blessed purity seals and battle armor isn’t just a Russian trend.

Ukraine’s own forces have adopted Warhammer imagery in striking ways, with one drone unit dubbed the “Khorne Group” after the game’s evil blood god. Their leader, reportedly, even sits on a Warhammer gaming chair during operations, while fans online cheer on with the grisly rallying cry, “blood for the blood god.”

Social media has been quick to spot both Russian and Ukrainian soldiers dressed in Warhammer garb and flashing purity seals, sometimes glued directly to vehicles.

Gizmodo even reported that Vadym Sukharevsky, Ukraine’s drone Czar, has his own extensive collection of Warhammer models—a reminder that in wartime, hobbies can blend with reality.

Vadym Sukharevsky

Look, I get it. The 40K universe is strangely compelling, and soldiers need downtime and deserve a hobby.

Of course, not everyone’s thrilled. Russian religious journalist Andrei Soldatov criticizes the use of such amulets, pointing out the uncomfortable merging of Orthodox theology with “pagan combat magic.”

“Amulets are not typical for Orthodox tradition…yet here they are,” he noted. Indeed, it seems that in this war, as far as the Russian Orthodox Church is concerned, all bets—or blessings—are off.

It’s worth noting that Warhammer 40K is extremely popular in both Ukraine and Russia – even though Games Workshop stopped selling its products in Russia in March of 2022 in protest of the invasion.

However, Games Workshop’s intellectual property is still sometimes officially made in Russia.

A hugely popular video game based on the 40K universe called Space Marine 2 (for PS5 and Xbox) just came out, and that game is made by a Russian developer called Saber Interactive. Ukrainian tech news site AIN claims that every purchase of the game for $59.99 funds the Russian army with almost $12 through taxation.

The site has to stretch a little bit to make that connection, but if true, as of this writing, Space Marine 2 has sold 4.5 million copies. That would come out to a profit of $270 million - $54 million for the Russian government through its taxation of the game’s maker Saber.

Still, this fascination of Warhammer 40K on the battlefield in Ukraine doesn’t look to be going away any time soon.

40K even made an appearance in Iraq and Afghanistan based on the testimony of soldiers I spoke with for this piece. One Iraq War veteran told me he put the symbol of the Space Wolves (a sub-faction within the Space Marines faction) on his M1 Abrams.

What we’re really talking about here, whether Ukrainian soldiers, Russian soldiers, or Americans in Iraq, is using fiction on the real-world battlefield to raise morale.

Morale is absolutely vital in war and is often synonymous with confidence, motivation, courage, and a sense of control.

I imagine Russian soldiers wearing 40K purity seals (that are blessed by the Orthodox church) may provide some feeling of divine protection, thus encouraging a higher risk tolerance under fire.

It’s the same reason my mother used to drive with a medallion of Saint Christopher, the patron saint of travelers, hanging from her rearview mirror.

Still, keep your eyes on the battlefield to see if you can catch the 40K symbols yourself.

The 40K world is a pretty immersive universe if you like sci-fi. I’m not advocating getting into the hobby because it is extremely expensive.

But check out some of the books if you enjoy science fiction. It’s an accessible entry point to the deep lore Games Workshop has built.

That’s all for today.

Glory to Ukraine.

Glory to the Heroes.

Слава Україні!