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 \u00abspiritual fortification\u00bb. News of the relic\u2019s loss has spread across the Ukrainian media and social media, though the Russian Orthodox Church has already denied it.<\/p>\n
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<\/strong>. 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.<\/p>\n The first reports of the relic\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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<\/strong> He told the Russian newspaper *Vedomosti* that the report regarding the loss of some of the relics was untrue. He described it as a \u00abmalicious fabrication\u00bb.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The story began back in August 2026, when, during restoration work at the Archangel Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin, the Russian side announced the \u00abrediscovery\u00bb of the remains of Dmitry Donskoy. Vladimir Putin<\/strong> He visited the cathedral, took part in a prayer service and later described the discovery as \u00abmiraculous\u00bb.<\/p>\n On 8 September, the Synodal Department of the Moscow Patriarchate announced that the reliquary containing a fragment of the prince\u2019s right hand had been sent to Russian troops in Ukraine. The Russian Orthodox Church stated that the relic was intended to contribute to the \u00abspiritual strengthening\u00bb of the servicemen.<\/p>\n The ark was subsequently transported to units of the Russian \u00abWest\u00bb 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\u2019s 1st Tank Army.<\/p>\n Reports of the possible loss of the relics emerged following the results the third stage<\/a> the Ukrainian offensive operation \u00abVivaldi\u00bb.<\/p>\n On 28 September, the commander of the Third Army Corps, Brigadier General Andrii Biletskyi<\/strong> announced his resignation Novoye, Ridkodub and Katerynivka<\/strong>, as well as regaining control of Karpivka and Novomykhailivka. According to him, during the third phase alone, Ukrainian units recaptured a further 51 km\u00b2 of territory. In total, since the start of the offensive \u2014 176 km\u00b2<\/strong>.<\/p>\nWhy were the relics of Dmitry Donskoy taken to the front?<\/h2>\n
\u00abVivaldi\u00bb has changed the situation in the Lyman region<\/h2>\n