Putin Opened Dmitry Donskoy’s Tomb To Send His Remains To The “Special Military Operation”
4- 20.08.2026, 20:47
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The Russian Orthodox Church announced the “miraculous” discovery of the relics of an ancient Russian prince on August 18.
Russian authorities are once again turning to Orthodox saints in the hope of helping the army fighting in Ukraine, whose offensive has slowed sharply this year.
On Thursday, August 20, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin led a prayer service at the Archangel Cathedral in the Kremlin, where, two days earlier, according to the Russian Orthodox Church, the relics of Dmitry Donskoy—an ancient Russian prince who in 1380 defeated the army of the Mamai Horde on the Kulikovo Field—had been “discovered,” writes The Moscow Times.
In footage released by the Kremlin press service and the state news agency TASS, Putin is seen holding a candle at the altar, crossing himself during a prayer service for the “victorious army,” “the Russian nation, and the president,” and then inspecting two open tombs containing remains covered with cloth.
The Russian Orthodox Church announced on August 18 the “miraculous” discovery of the relics of Dmitry Donskoy, who was canonized in 1988. A TASS source reported that at the Arkhangelsk Cathedral, the floor and the brick tombstones of the crypt were dismantled, after which the remains were found “complete, with the exception of the left heel bone.” The Russian Orthodox Church attributed the opening of the tombs to renovation work and proposed sending part of the relics to the “Special Military Operation” zone. “Orthodox servicemen should be given the opportunity to venerate these relics as soon as possible,” said Vakhtang Kipshidze, deputy chairman of the Synodal Department for Church Relations with Society and the Media of the Moscow Patriarchate, on Thursday.
During his visit to the cathedral, Putin approved the Russian Orthodox Church’s plans regarding the relics. “I spoke with His Holiness yesterday; I am aware of his plans [regarding the relics of Dmitry Donskoy]. Please convey my best wishes to him,” Putin said. He described the discovery of the relics as “absolutely unique,” “amazing,” and “miraculous.”
Journalist Ksenia Luchenko, author of the “Orthodoxy and Zombies” channel, notes that the story with the relics is clearly “not an impromptu event”; preparations for it had been underway “for quite some time.” Both historians and the Russian Orthodox Church knew where Dmitry Donskoy was buried; all that was needed was to simply open the grave. “The prince’s remains were left where they were. Some small fragments were separated from them and placed in specially prepared reliquaries,” Luchenko describes the process. “These reliquaries will be carried as sacred objects during religious processions and along the front lines.”
Metropolitan Kirill Pokrovsky, head of the Synodal Military Department, has already expressed his deep hope that “one of these reliquary caskets will be sent to the front lines to remain permanently with military units in the combat zone.”
Dmitry Donskoy’s sarcophagus had previously been excavated only once—in the 1860s—to move it to a higher location. Perhaps the authorities “needed another mystical-ideological event,” since “the momentum is fading,” Luchenko suggests. Last year, fragments of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Saints Peter and Fevronia of Murom, St. Luke of Crimea, and Matrona of Moscow, as well as several icons, were delivered to the front lines.
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