The report examines the Russian independent ethnographer Alexandra Arkhipova's metaphor concerning Putin's patriotic agenda. Arkhipova suggests that Putin aims to achieve "patriotic stasis," where a set of predefined values remains unchanged. To pursue this goal, the Russian state has created a number of lavishly funded patriotic programmes. The research question is: To what extent is Arkhipova's metaphor mirrored in existing patriotic programmes, such as the Military-patriotic Sports Centre (MPSC) and Time of Heroes (ToH) educational and mentorship programmes? To address this question, the report provides a detailed examination of the selected programmes, MPSC and ToH. The author argues that these initiatives function as nodes within a regime network that encompasses people, interests, and values. However, there are deviations from Arkhipova's metaphor. Perhaps the most significant of these deviations can be termed a patriotic paradox. The paradox of public patriotism in Russia is that, while the goal is a static society - Arkhipova's patriotic stasis - the condition deemed most beneficial to achieving it is one of turbulent wartime change.