On September 7, in the temporarily occupied Sevastopol’s Prince Alexander Nevsky Cathedral l, with the blessing of Metropolitan Lazar of the ROC in Crimea (the so-called UOC-MP), local priests of the Moscow Patriarchate awarded Russian occupiers – Black Sea fleet servicemen – and cadets.
According to the website of the ROCinU’s Crimean Diocese, the move is supported by the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, the State Duma, and the Ministry of Defense.
The award ceremony kicked off with a prayer led by the head of the diocesan department for cooperation with the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in Crimea, Archpriest Dmitry Krotkov, together with the clergy of the Simferopol denominations.
After the prayer, many years of service were delivered to all attending Russian servicemen. The service was also attended by the Senator of the Federation Council, Sergei Kolbin.
At the wrapup of the event, the participants were awarded diplomas and a “Defender of Russia” statuette.
It should be recalled that the ROC in Ukraine has been selling a book with prayers for “our Russian homeland.”
