Why is Russia sending dead princes and saints to the battlefield?

- As Russian forces prepare for another winter on the front lines of the fighting in eastern Ukraine, they are receiving an unusual form of support: the remains of a warrior prince who fought for Moscow over 600 years ago. A portion of the remains of Prince Dmitry Donskoy — celebrated in Russia for his victory at the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380 — was sent to the front lines in early September, and is currently being transported between military bases in the areas occupied by Russia in Ukraine.

The military department of the Moscow Patriarchate, which represents the clerical leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church, stated that the "holy leader" will stand invisibly "shoulder to shoulder" with Russian soldiers. The church added that the sacred symbol, which is a part of his right hand, was the same hand that raised his sword at the Battle of Kulikovo.

Sending a religious symbol to the battlefield may seem strange, yet since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Moscow has sought to exploit every possible avenue in what has become a devastating and bloody war of attrition, including resorting to religious symbolism to portray its cause as "just" and divinely blessed. As a result, the relationship between the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church has become closer than ever. Sergey Chapnin, a researcher in religious affairs and communications director at the Orthodox Christian Studies Center at Fordham University, stated: "The church has practically merged with the state to the extent that it has become difficult to distinguish between them."

He said: "In my opinion, the maximum (of their closeness) has been reached." The sending of sacred symbols to the troops is a well-established practice in Orthodox Christianity.

Chapnin, who previously worked at the publishing house of the Moscow Patriarchate, said: "This combination of the sacred and the material draws attention, and of course, propaganda exploits this matter." Experts say that the remains of Donskoy also carry a contemporary message.

The researcher told the Afaaq News Network: "He was not the aggressor himself, but was defending the homeland." From the government's perspective, "it is extremely important to show that Russia is not the aggressor, and that we are defending our lands."

He added: "These myths, which link different times and eras, can have a very strong influence on the collective consciousness," pointing out that these symbols are presented as "magical icons." Archbishop Vladimir, the Orthodox leader appointed by Russia in Donetsk and Mariupol, stated that these sacred symbols will help soldiers and civilians to "mobilize their spiritual and physical strength" and "overcome the enemy."

Donskoy was not the first warrior saint that Russia has relied on during its war in Ukraine; the relics of Prince Alexander Nevsky, another medieval ruler who became a symbol of Russian military glory, were also transferred to the troops earlier this year. The timing of sending Donskoy's relics to the battlefield was also appropriate.

The relics of the prince were discovered during restoration work at the Archangel Cathedral in the Kremlin in August, weeks after unconfirmed reports emerged about the loss of Nevsky's relics. Russian President Vladimir Putin described the finding of the relics - whose location had been known since their burial - as a "completely unique discovery" and an "amazing find."

Patriarch Kirill, the leader of the Kremlin-aligned Russian Orthodox Church, described it as a "special sign of divine providence." As for Father Alexander Zanimonits, an Orthodox priest and historian who was born in Moscow and lived abroad for years before leaving Russia permanently following its invasion of Ukraine, he believes that this discovery "has nothing to do with Christianity."

He said: "It is undoubtedly an exploitation of Christianity and an exploitation of the church for (national) purposes." He added that the incentives in a church where the number of active worshippers is relatively low, but which enjoys strong state support, tend to align with the interests of the state, describing the use of relics as "purely utilitarian calculations devoid of principles."

During the period between 2022 and 2024, Zanimonits provided his pastoral services to Ukrainian war refugees at the Orthodox Church in Finland. His period of service ended amid questions about his proficiency in the Ukrainian language and his ties to Russia, allegations he denied in a post on Facebook. "We are Russians."

Although this may seem ironic to some, many fighters on the front lines have found themselves turning to God. A former Russian soldier who fought in Ukraine told Afaaq News: "Not all of us talk to God when things are going well, but everyone talks to Him when things go wrong."

The soldier described makeshift churches constructed using any available materials, scenes of soldiers praying before each mission, and priests regularly visiting military units and hospitals. He added: "Like a field kitchen, a priest should be present everywhere," citing a common Russian phrase: "We are Russians, and God is with us."

A Russian soldier currently serving in the Zaporizhia region described the opportunity to speak to a priest, pray, or touch something sacred as representing "a great moral support." As the war enters its fifth year with no end in sight, the troops say the pressures are mounting.

A Russian commander in Donbass told Afaq News: "The situation is generally tense and is worsening over time." Soldiers spoke about their religious beliefs at the front on the condition of anonymity, as they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Away from the killing lines, the religious scope of the Russian Orthodox Church appears to be extremely limited compared to its clear political influence. A survey conducted by the state polling agency (VCIOM) showed that about two-thirds of Russians consider themselves Orthodox Christians, a percentage that has decreased from around 80% fifteen years ago.

However, several priests and religious scholars told Afaq News that only about 2% of baptized Orthodox believers in Russia practice their religious rituals regularly, a figure supported by data from the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs regarding attendance at Orthodox Christmas mass. Nevertheless, an annual religious march organized by far-right groups and nationalist groups in four Russian cities attracted massive crowds in September, with more than 100,000 participants in Moscow alone, according to official figures.

In the capital, worshippers carried a part of the relics of Saint Donskoy through the streets in a procession led by Patriarch Kirill. According to Zanimonts, who currently works in the Orthodox Church in America, such events are primarily aimed at demonstrating the church's ability to "mobilize large numbers of people" in front of the state.

However, researcher and religious historian Konstantin Mikhailov described the level of participation as "a drop in the ocean" in a country with a population exceeding 145 million, considering that Russian society, contrary to the desires of the state and the church, remains highly secular. Mikhailov explained that the church receives funding and political support from the Kremlin to enhance its influence, while the Kremlin gains legitimacy through the church's support for state narratives, describing this relationship as a cycle that "reinforces each other." "How do we support them?" The historian also noted that this cycle has contributed to an increase in the number of military priests at the front lines.

But for critics within the church, this raises a difficult question about the type of support that clergy should provide to soldiers. Father Gregory Mikh Nov-Faitenko, a Russian priest in the Apostolic Orthodox Church who assists Ukrainian refugees displaced by the war, said: "We must support people, including those in military uniforms, but the question is how do we support them?"

The priest told Afaq News: "On one hand, people should not be deprived of spiritual support, and on the other hand, they should not be led towards delusion." In contrast, the Russian Orthodox Church adopted a different perspective, as just a few days after Putin announced partial mobilization in September 2022, Patriarch Kirill told worshippers that a soldier who dies while performing his military duty has made a sacrifice that "washes away all his sins."

Ukraine has strived to separate from the Russian Orthodox Church, which was officially achieved in 2019 when Patriarch Bartholomew I, the Patriarch of Constantinople and head of the global Orthodox Church, recognized the establishment of an independent Orthodox Church in Ukraine. Mikh Nov-Faitenko noted that Orthodox Christians make up the majority of the population in both Russia and Ukraine.

The priest, who separated from the Russian Orthodox Church after Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014, stated that the church as an institution "blesses its children to kill one another." Chapnin, a researcher at Fordham University, described this as a departure from the concept that has prevailed in Orthodox traditions for thousands of years regarding the meaning of "martyrdom," saying: "The importance of the Gospel has become secondary compared to government propaganda tasks."

At the same time, on the battlefronts, not all soldiers whom Afaq News spoke to saw these sacred symbols as meaningful support, with one soldier in the Donbas region - located in eastern Ukraine under occupation - describing them as "an extremely unconventional solution to our problems in the 21st century." He added: "In my opinion, the mothers who have lost their sons in this military operation are the ones who need it the most."