Russian troops gifted dead princes hand in bizarre bid to boost morale as Kremlin suffers mass casualities
They’re getting a helping hand.The Russian Orthodox Church sent fragments of a medieval prince’s hand to soldiers in the frontlines as a means to raise morale and provide “spiritual strength” to end the war.The church, which backs Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, said it dispatched a fragment of Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy’s sword hand to soldiers in the occupied region of Donetsk.The Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church said sending the prince’s remains served as a symbol to allow the so-called “holy commander” to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Moscow’s invading army.“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,” it said in a statement.Donskoy, who died in 1389, is revered by Russian nationalists for defeating the Mongol Golden Horde at the 1380 Battle of Kulikovo.
He was declared a saint by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1988.Donskoy’s sarcophagus was uncovered this summer during restoration work at Moscow’s Cathedral of the Archangel inside the Kremlin.A piece of the prince’s hand was put in a small ornate casket that is set to be displayed among Russia’s combat units along the frontlines, the church said.
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 ter...