Putin sends warrior’s hand—with Swedish roots—to the front

 

Henrik Samuelsson/TT

 

Published 08.43

 

A photo from August showing a reverent Vladimir Putin (right) viewing the remains of Dmitry Donskoy in the Cathedral of the Archangel in Moscow. Russian rulers from several centuries are buried in the cathedral. Photo: Vyacheslav Prokofiev/AP/TT

Skeletal remains of the 14th-century warrior Dmitry Donskoy—a descendant of the Viking Rurik—feature in President Vladimir Putin’s latest effort to boost the morale of Russian forces in Ukraine.

Grand Prince Donskoy is revered in Russia as the first leader to challenge the Mongol rule of the Golden Horde. His remains were brought out during renovations at the Cathedral of the Archangel in the Moscow Kremlin.

Now, bones from the "holy commander’s" right hand have been sent to the front line in Ukraine to "take an invisible place in the same ranks of warriors as the defenders of the fatherland," the Russian Orthodox Church stated in a communiqué cited by *The Guardian*.

Donskoy lived from 1350 to 1389 and belonged to the Rurik dynasty. The dynasty took its name from the Swedish Viking Rurik, who in the 9th century founded the Kievan Rus'—a state that encompassed parts of present-day Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia.