The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) has stepped up its support for Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, as clerics head to the front lines with a relic which they claim will bring spiritual strength.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, head of the ROC, has called the invasion a “holy war”. In a 2024 document, he characterised it as a fight between a Christian Russia and a “satanic” West. The Patriarch also claimed that Russian soldiers killed would be cleansed of their sins.
The Church is now sending the remains of a 14th-century Russian warrior prince to the battlefield. The relic of Dmitry Donskoy, patron saint of the secret police who was canonised after he defended Moscow, was recently discovered in the Kremlin's Archangel Cathedral.
Having been prayed over by Putin last month, the ROC said that Russian soldiers “have a need and a desire to worship the relics of the blessed prince”. A spokesperson added that the saint would “invisibly join the Russian troops in a single battle formation” and aid their “spiritual strengthening”.
The Church, which has around 90 million members in Russia, called for prayers that the saint would bring “courage [and] spiritual resilience” to soldiers.
It comes as Patriarch Kirill visited the occupied Donbas region, telling troops in hospital that they suffered for being “correct”, according to Ukrainian National News. He also told a bishop, who had been injured in a Ukrainian drone strike, that “demons” were to blame for his injuries.
In response, a statement from the Ukrainian National Security and Defence Council said: “Instead of calls for peace or mercy, which one might expect from a religious organisation, the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church fully aligns its rhetoric on the war with the Kremlin. Today’s Russian Orthodox Church has nothing in common with Christian faith or spirituality. It has turned into an ideological subdivision of the regime, which justifies the war of aggression, glorifies Putin, and blesses the killing of Ukrainians.”
The ROC has backed Putin since the full-scale invasion began in 2022. It has also been accused of enabling the abduction and deportation of children from Ukraine by housing them in church-run homes. Russian authorities have denied that this practice is taking place.