Russian troops are being offered an unusual form of encouragement on the front line.
The Russian Orthodox Church has sent fragments of a medieval prince’s hand to soldiers fighting in Ukraine, saying the relic is intended to lift morale and provide “spiritual strength” as Moscow’s war continues.
The church, a vocal supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion, said a fragment from the sword hand of Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy had been delivered to troops in the occupied Donetsk region.
According to the Moscow Patriarchate, the gesture was meant to symbolize the revered “holy commander” standing alongside Russia’s invading forces.
“A fragment of the Grand Prince’s right hand — the very same right hand with which he wielded his sword on Kulikovo Field — has been sent to the front to strengthen the soldiers’ spirits,” the church said in a statement.
Donskoy, who died in 1389, is celebrated by Russian nationalists for his victory over the Mongol Golden Horde at the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380. The Russian Orthodox Church canonized him in 1988.
His sarcophagus was uncovered earlier this summer during restoration work at the Cathedral of the Archangel in Moscow’s Kremlin.
The church said a portion of the prince’s hand has been placed in a small ornate casket and is expected to be displayed among Russian combat units positioned along the front lines.
The push for moral support comes as Russia’s invading forces endure its fifth year of war, with battlefield casualties exceeding more than 42,000 in July alone, according to Ukraine.
Critics of the war and deserters have specifically slammed Moscow’s meat grinder tactic of sending wave after wave of troops to overwhelm Ukraine’s defending army.
The body’s deployment to Donetsk is also notable given that Russia has yet to fully conquer the region, known as Ukraine’s fortress belt.
“By the fifth year of war, the Church leadership in Moscow began to wonder what else it could do to show its support for what Russia terms its ‘special military operation’,” Alexander Zanemonets, an Orthodox priest and historian based outside Russia, wrote in a note for the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center.
“It had already sent priests to the front lines, instituted mandatory prayers for Russian victory in every church, and flown icons over cities,” he added. “A state embroiled in war will try to compel all institutions, including religious ones, to participate in it.”
With Post wires
