The Russian Orthodox Church transported a reliquary containing part of the right hand of Dmitry Donskoy, a 14th-century prince, to Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine. Church officials stated the relic would help soldiers and civilians “mobilise their strength” and secure victory. The reliquary was first brought to the Savur-Mohyla war memorial in the Donetsk region, where senior Orthodox clergy held a prayer service alongside Russian military representatives.
Donskoy’s remains were formally uncovered last month during restoration work at the Cathedral of the Archangel inside the Kremlin, where Russian princes and tsars are buried. The prince had been canonised in 1988, but the church had not previously attempted to exhume his remains despite knowing his burial location. Critics have accused the church of departing from religious protocol by opening the centuries-old tomb.
The reliquary deployment represents the latest instance of the Russian Orthodox Church’s alignment with the Kremlin’s military efforts in Ukraine. Since the full-scale invasion in February 2022, church leadership has become deeply involved in the war effort, with priests assigned to military units and churches instructed to recite prayers for victory. Similarly, relics of Alexander Nevsky, another medieval military figure revered in the Orthodox tradition, were sent to the front earlier this year.
Observers have noted the timing of the relic’s exhumation coincides with increased efforts by church leadership to demonstrate support for Russia’s military operations. Church officials have portrayed the conflict in religious terms, with the reliquary’s deployment described as allowing the medieval prince to join contemporary defenders of the homeland in battle.
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