https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-prince-dmitry-donskoy-bones-ukraine-b3047928.html
Putin sends bones of medieval warrior to Ukraine frontline in desperate bid to boost morale
Donskoy, whose name was given to a Soviet tank column funded by the church in World War Two, was declared a saint in 1988
Russia has sent bone fragments from a legendary Russian prince in a bizarre attempt to boost morale for its soldiers fighting in Putin’s war against Ukraine.
Tiny fragments from the sword hand of the medieval Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy, who won a famous victory over the Mongols, have been sent in the Russian Orthodox Church's latest show of support for Putin's war.
The Church, which has backed Putin throughout the conflict, said it had dispatched a fragment of Donskoy's right hand to Donetsk, one of four Ukrainian regions Putin said he had incorporated into Russia in 2022, a move Kyiv rejected as an illegal land grab.
The sarcophagus of the Grand Prince, who died in 1389 and is revered by Russian nationalists for defeating the Mongol Golden Horde at the 1380 Battle of Kulikovo, was uncovered this summer during restoration work at Moscow's Cathedral of the Archangel inside the Kremlin.
Russian military and church officials presented the discovery as a fortuitous find that could help Russian forces prevail in Ukraine, now in the fifth year of a grinding war.
Putin personally inspected what experts said were the prince's well-preserved remains in August, hailing them as "an absolutely unique and marvellous discovery" which reinforced the foundations of Russian history...