During the retreat of Russian troops in the Lyman area, a reliquary containing a fragment of the relics of Prince Dmitry Donskoy of Moscow reportedly went missing; the Russian Orthodox Church had handed it over to the military for «spiritual fortification». News of the relic’s loss has spread across the Ukrainian media and social media, though the Russian Orthodox Church has already denied it.
What is known about the disappearance of the relics
On 30 September, the Ukrainian media reported that some of the relics may have been lost during the retreat of Russian units in the Lyman area Dmitry Donskoy. This refers to a fragment of the right hand of a medieval Moscow prince, which the Russian Orthodox Church had previously sent to the Russian military.
The first reports of the relic’s disappearance were based mainly on social media posts. There is currently no independent confirmation that the ark was in fact abandoned or lost by the Russian military.
The Russian Orthodox Church has already responded to the report. The deputy head of the Synodal Department for Church Relations with Society and the Media Vakhtang Kipshidze He told the Russian newspaper *Vedomosti* that the report regarding the loss of some of the relics was untrue. He described it as a «malicious fabrication».
Consequently, there are currently two versions of the story: Ukrainian sources report that the relic may have been lost during the retreat, whilst representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church categorically deny this.
Why were the relics of Dmitry Donskoy taken to the front?
The story began back in August 2026, when, during restoration work at the Archangel Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin, the Russian side announced the «rediscovery» of the remains of Dmitry Donskoy. Vladimir Putin He visited the cathedral, took part in a prayer service and later described the discovery as «miraculous».
On 8 September, the Synodal Department of the Moscow Patriarchate announced that the reliquary containing a fragment of the prince’s right hand had been sent to Russian troops in Ukraine. The Russian Orthodox Church stated that the relic was intended to contribute to the «spiritual strengthening» of the servicemen.
The ark was subsequently transported to units of the Russian «West» group, which is operating, in particular, in the Kupiansk and Lyman sectors. The relic was taken to military chapels, a field hospital and the command post of the Russian Federation’s 1st Tank Army.
«Vivaldi» has changed the situation in the Lyman region
Reports of the possible loss of the relics emerged following the results the third stage the Ukrainian offensive operation «Vivaldi».
On 28 September, the commander of the Third Army Corps, Brigadier General Andrii Biletskyi announced his resignation Novoye, Ridkodub and Katerynivka, as well as regaining control of Karpivka and Novomykhailivka. According to him, during the third phase alone, Ukrainian units recaptured a further 51 km² of territory. In total, since the start of the offensive — 176 km².
According to the corps command’s assessment, during the third phase, Russian troops lost around 2,000 military personnel, and more than 250 Russians were taken prisoner. These figures are provided by the Ukrainian side and have not been fully and independently verified in the context of hostilities.
The Third Corps stated that the main objective of this phase was to capture the settlement of Nove and the surrounding high ground. According to Biletsky, the Russian command had expected the main Ukrainian offensive to take place in another area and had redeployed reserves there, whilst the main operations were concentrated in a different sector.
What’s next for Operation «Vivaldi»?»
The third phase of the operation has come to an end, but «Vivaldi» itself does not end there. Following a meeting with the command of the Third Army Corps, the president Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that the military are already discussing the next, fourth phase of the operation. According to him, during the three previous phases, Ukrainian forces managed to stabilise the situation on this section of the front and thwart Russian plans for further advances.
Against this backdrop, the story of Dmitry Donskoy’s relics has become a symbolic episode in the information war surrounding the fighting in the Lyman region. The fact that the relic was handed over to the Russian military has been confirmed by the Russian Orthodox Church itself and by Russian state bodies. However, the claim that it was lost on the battlefield remains, for the time being, an unconfirmed report, which the Russian Orthodox Church denies.
