The Russian Orthodox Church has dispatched a reliquary containing part of the right hand of Dmitry Donskoy, a 14th-century prince, to troops engaged in combat in Ukraine. Church leadership stated that the relic would “spiritually strengthen” soldiers and assist them in achieving victory. The remains were first transported to the Savur-Mohyla war memorial in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region, where senior Orthodox clergy conducted a prayer service alongside Russian military representatives.
The reliquary’s journey represents the latest instance of the Russian Orthodox Church’s involvement in the Kremlin’s military operations in Ukraine. Metropolitan Vladimir of Donetsk and Mariupol, the Russian-installed ecclesiastical leader, stated that the relic’s presence would help soldiers and civilians “mobilise their strength” and secure victory. The church has become deeply integrated into the war effort since the full-scale invasion began, with priests assigned to military units and occupied territories, and churches across Russia instructed to recite prayers for victory.
Donskoy’s remains were discovered only last month during restoration work at the Cathedral of the Archangel in the Kremlin. Russian President Putin attended the ceremony marking the discovery. Some observers questioned the decision to open the centuries-old tomb, noting that although the burial location had been known, the church had made no previous attempt to exhume the remains after Donskoy’s canonisation in 1988.
Orthodox priest and historian Alexander Zanemonets suggested the timing of the excavation appeared connected to wartime considerations. He wrote that by the fifth year of conflict, church leadership “began to wonder what else it could do to show its support” for military operations. Zanemonets also noted that presenting Donskoy as a defender of the homeland aligned with the Kremlin’s characterization of the conflict as a defensive operation.
The church has similarly sent relics of Alexander Nevsky, another medieval military figure revered in the Orthodox tradition, to frontline areas earlier this year.
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