Why was Peter the Great considered the Antichrist?

For some, he became the quasi Antichrist – “the man of sin and the son of perdition”, through whom Satan himself acts. This is how he was perceived by the Old Believers, opponents of Patriarch Nikon's church reforms. Old Believers faced hard labor or death for spreading their ideas. The practice of shaving of beards, which he introduced, was considered the “seal of the Antichrist”. Under Peter the Great, tobacco smoking became widespread, even though, in Russia, it was nothing short of a mortal sin.