Russian national identity: ascent into the past for creating the future

The article dwells upon possible ways to find the national identity by Russia. The author considers awareness of its historical mission under the circumstances of modern society transformation as one of such ways. In order to achieve this objective, it is necessary to overcome the crisis of national and cultural identity, which struck the Russian society during the course of Peter the First's reforms and has been lasting since then even in the current context, by means of historical heritage restoration and basing upon cultural values.