Military clergy of the Russian Empire. Military clergy in the Russian army

Military priests in the Russian army will no longer surprise anyone - “priests in uniform” have organically fit into the modern Russian army. Before carrying the word of God into the ranks, army chaplains must undergo a month-long combat training course. Recently, such training began at the Military University of the Ministry of Defense. The “cadets in cassocks”, as if in spirit, told the special correspondent of “Culture” who visited there why they needed the army.

Shooting is canceled

Officially, by staffing table, their position is called “assistant commander for work with religious servicemen.” The rank is high: one military chaplain cares for a large formation - a division, a brigade, a military college, that's several thousand people. Despite the fact that they themselves are not military personnel, do not wear shoulder straps, and by virtue of their clergy they are generally prohibited from picking up weapons, military chaplains undergo military training courses every three years.

The head of the department for work with religious military personnel, Alexander Surovtsev, believes that an army priest, although a spiritual person, must also have certain military knowledge. For example, to have an idea of ​​the types and branches of troops, to understand how the Airborne Forces differ from the Navy and the Strategic Missile Forces from the Airborne Forces.

Training to improve military qualifications, Surovtsev tells Culture, lasts a month and is conducted on the basis of five military educational institutions countrywide. The current group of priests at the Military University is the fourth since the spring of 2013. It has 18 Orthodox priests from various regions of Russia, most of them appointed to positions this year. In total, 60 representatives of the military clergy have already successfully completed training here, including 57 Orthodox Christians, two Muslims and one Buddhist.

Surovtsev himself is a career military man. But for the sake of his current position, he had to remove his shoulder straps - he must manage the priests civilian. “These chaplains have military ranks, but we have priests without shoulder straps,” smiles Alexander Ivanovich. Back in the early 90s, he was seconded to the Synodal Department of the Moscow Patriarchate for interaction with the Armed Forces and law enforcement agencies and, in fact, stood at the origins of the institute of military clergy in the army.

As Surovtsev said, within a month the cadet priests will have to master the basics of tactics and other sciences. The further list of topics - spiritual and educational, moral and psychological, philosophical and political science, socio-economic - made my head spin. I think I’m not the only one, so military priests are especially looking forward to going “to the field” - to training grounds and shooting ranges. This year they will not be given weapons in their hands - there have been too many misunderstandings about the participation of their predecessors in the shootings. The media was full of photographs of priests with Kalashnikovs, the captions were not very kind. Therefore, this time the Ministry of Defense decided not to expose themselves, and not to substitute the priests. True, some complain.

So what? - said Archpriest Oleg Khatsko, he came from Kaliningrad. - The Scripture says “thou shalt not kill.” And there is not a word about the fact that a clergyman cannot take up arms.

If you can’t shoot, then what will the priests do at the shooting range? Watch how military personnel make holes in targets and bless them for a well-aimed shot. From practical classes For priests, it is planned to become familiar with a field station for working with religious military personnel, which will be deployed at one of the training grounds in the Moscow region. This type of tent is also available at the Military University - in case the cadets and students who are constantly studying here leave for field training. Assistant to the head of the university, Archpriest Dmitry Solonin, will tell everything and show his fellow priests who arrived for advanced training - many brought with them camp sets of church utensils. By the way, the Russian Army also has a permanent camp temple - so far there is only one, in Abkhazia, on the territory of the 7th Russian military base in the city of Gudauta. The local archpriest Vasily Alesenko believes that soon a permanent church will be built for them. “Everything is God’s will,” he told me. “Well, a little help from the Ministry of Defense.”

And just the other day, Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Army General Dmitry Bulgakov, announced that the construction of chapels has been completed on two Arctic islands where Russian troops are stationed. There will be four of them in this region - on the islands of Kotelny, Wrangel, Franz Josef Land and Cape Schmidt.

In addition to classes (this is 144 training hours), military chaplains also have a cultural program. They will visit the Central Museum of the Armed Forces, the Studio of Military Artists named after M.B. Grekov, will go to the Borodino field, where they will serve a prayer service. And on November 3, they are entrusted with participating in the evening service in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, where the next day a solemn service will take place in honor of the Kazan Icon Mother of God.

Shepherd of Orthodox Sheep

I’ve always wondered how the army addresses military chaplains? Do they have military uniforms or camouflage cassocks? Are soldiers supposed to salute their priests, after all, they are an assistant (consider a deputy) to the commander?

“I overheard our priests deciphering the word “priest” - shepherd of Orthodox sheep,” Alexander Surovtsev smiles. - In general, that’s true... There are no special recommendations for contacting priests in the army. There is definitely no need to give honor - their rank is not military, but spiritual. Most often, a priest is addressed as “father.”

Father Oleg from Kostroma echoes Surovtsev: “You need to earn your appeal. So you come to the commander, introduce yourself by last name, first name, patronymic, and church rank, and then it depends on the relationship, on what result you bring. But most often they are called, of course, father.”

I heard everything - the Holy Father, and even “Your Eminence” from the lips of the authorities, many hesitated, not knowing what to call it, laughs Archpriest Oleg Khatsko. “But it’s better to give the commander the opportunity to choose the treatment himself.”

Priest Dionisy Grishin from the Airborne Forces training center (himself a former paratrooper) also remembers, not without a smile, how he experimented with greetings.

I approach the line of soldiers and roar in a deep voice: “I wish you good health, comrade soldiers!” Father Dionysius shows naturally. - Well, in response, as expected, they answer: “We wish you good health...” - and then there is confusion. Some fell silent, others said randomly, “comrade priest,” “comrade priest.” And somehow a mischievous guy came across, who also spoke in a deep voice, while his comrades were wondering how he would say: “We wish you good health, comrade priest!” I just laughed, but later I just said hello, not in a military way.

With the form, everything is also simple - the priests serve in church clothes, as expected. But they are given field camouflage - upon request. It is more convenient to move through forests and fields in it and during exercises, and it does not get as dirty as a cassock.

During the service, of course, there can be no question of any military uniform,” explains priest Evgeniy Tsiklauri from the Russian military base Kant in Kyrgyzstan. - But when sometimes you put on a uniform, you feel more favor from the soldiers. Here Muslim military personnel become more open, they see you as a comrade, a fellow soldier. By the way, regarding Muslims, we managed to agree that a local imam would read sermons to them on a freelance basis.

Military chaplains don’t get too hung up on fasting either.

Posting in the army is optional, we will only advise what you can abstain from, the priests say. - It also depends on the intensity of the service. Here in pre-revolutionary Russia in the army they fasted in groups - a week for each unit. And Peter I at one time demanded permission from the patriarch not to fast during wars and campaigns.

But the main thing for a military priest is not the form, but the content: his task is to increase the morale of the unit.

In Chechnya, during the war, soldiers reached out to the priest, hoping to find moral support from him, an opportunity to strengthen their spirit by hearing a wise and calm word, reserve colonel Nikolai Nikulnikov recalls in a conversation with Culture. “As a commander, I did not interfere and I myself always treated the priests with respect - after all, they walked with the soldiers under the same bullets. And in peaceful life, while serving in the Ulyanovsk airborne brigade, I became convinced that the word of a priest disciplines. If the fighters have been to confession with a good priest or just at a church service, you certainly don’t expect drinking or other violations from them. You can say: like the priest, so is the regiment. They know how to set people up to complete a task without any commands.

Gentlemen Junkers

In the Russian army, according to statistics, 78% are believers, but few people have knowledge that extends beyond the Lord’s Prayer. “There are many believers, but few are enlightened,” complains Father Vasily. “But that’s our purpose—to strengthen the spirit and mind of our flock.”

Guys now come to the army with faith in their hearts, we only help them, says Archpriest Oleg Novikov from the Kostroma Academy of Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection. “This year, immediately after entering the academy, forty young men came to the temple. And no one forced them to do this.

Father Oleg recalls an episode 17 years ago, when the film “The Barber of Siberia” was filmed in Kostroma - 300 school cadets were involved. They were given cadet uniforms, which they wore neither during classes nor even during discharges to the city. To get used to the image. Grandmothers cried on the streets, recognizing the cadets' uniforms - the same as in the surviving photographs of their fathers.

At that time I was already the rector of the church, which was located on the territory of the school, and all these three months we lived together with the cadets,” continues the archpriest. - And I noticed how guys change literally before our eyes...

When under New Year Nikita Mikhalkov and the actors went to Moscow, the “junkers” got a break from working in cinema. It would seem that we could relax. But no! They became so accustomed to their new essence that when they entered the church, they sang “Our Father” and other prayers even better and more conscientiously than in the presence of their film mentors.

They did it absolutely sincerely, that’s what’s important,” says Father Oleg. - Not under coercion, but solely of one’s own free will.

Oleg Novikov himself also graduated from the Kostroma Military School.

At one time, Novikov’s namesake, Archpriest Oleg Khatsko, was a cadet at the Kaliningrad Higher Naval School. He studied well, did not violate discipline - in three years of study, he was AWOL only twice, one of which turned out to be a collective one - in protest against the injustice of the teacher. But then one day he felt that this was not his military career, he wrote a report and left.

Friends, especially those who are still serving in Kaliningrad, joke: they say, was it worth leaving the school to come back here again, even as a military chaplain?

When we were already saying goodbye to the heroes of this essay, a chant was heard within the walls of the Military University. The priests unanimously said: “It is worthy to eat as one truly blesses You, the Mother of God, the Ever-Blessed and Most Immaculate and the Mother of our God-o-o...”

This is a prayer at the completion of any good deed,” explained Alexander Surovtsev. “And our cadets-priests went through another course of lectures and enriched themselves with knowledge that will help them in communicating with their military flock. It's not a sin to sing.

Salary for a priest

The decision to create an institute of military clergy in the Russian army and navy was made on July 21, 2009. The first in 2011 was Father Anatoly Shcherbatyuk, who was ordained to the rank of priest at the Church of Sergius of Radonezh in the city of Sertolovo, Leningrad Region (Western Military District). Now there are more than 140 military chaplains in the army. Their composition is proportional to the ratio of believing military personnel. Orthodox make up 88%, Muslims - 9%. There is only one Buddhist military priest so far - in a separate motorized rifle brigade in the Buryat city of Kyakhta. This is the lama of the Murochinsky monastery-datsan, reserve sergeant Bair Batomunkuev, he does not claim a separate temple in the military unit - he performs rituals in a yurt.

In 1914, about 5,000 regimental and naval chaplains and several hundred chaplains served in the Russian army. Mullahs also served in national formations, for example in the “Wild Division”, staffed by immigrants from the Caucasus.

In pre-revolutionary Russia, as Boris Lukichev, the first head of the department for work with religious servicemen in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, told Culture, the activities of priests were secured by a special legal status. Formally, clergy did not have military ranks, but in fact, in a military environment, a deacon was equated to a lieutenant, a priest to a captain, the rector of a military cathedral and a divisional dean to a lieutenant colonel, a field chief priest of armies and navies and a chief priest of the General Staff, Guards and Grenadier Corps to a major general, and the protopresbyter of military and naval clergy (the highest ecclesiastical office for the army and navy, established in 1890) to lieutenant general.

The church “table of ranks” influenced the salaries paid from the treasury of the military department and other privileges. For example, each ship's priest was entitled to a separate cabin and boat, he had the right to pester the ship from the starboard side, which, besides him, was allowed only to flagships, ship commanders and officers who had St. George's awards. The sailors were obliged to salute him.

In the Russian army, Orthodox priests resumed their activities almost immediately after the collapse Soviet Union. However, this happened on a voluntary basis and their activities strongly depended on the will of a particular unit commander - in some places priests were not even allowed on the threshold, but in others the doors were thrown wide open, and even senior officers stood to attention in front of the clergy.

The first official cooperation agreement between the church and the army was signed in 1994. At the same time, the Coordination Committee for interaction between the Armed Forces and the Russian Orthodox Church appeared. In February 2006, Patriarch Alexy II gave his blessing for the training of military priests “for the spiritual care of the Russian army.” Soon Russian President Vladimir Putin approved this idea.

The priests' salaries are paid by the Ministry of Defense. Recently they were given a 10 percent bonus for the difficult nature of their service and long working hours. It began to cost 30-40 thousand rubles a month. As Culture learned, the defense department is now considering the possibility of equating their salaries to what military personnel receive in a similar position as an assistant commander of a formation - it will be approximately 60,000. God's help you can live.

The Church does not single out any profession as much as military service. The reason is clear: the military, and representatives of law enforcement agencies in general, devote not only their strength and knowledge to their work, but, if necessary, their very life. Such a sacrifice requires religious understanding.

TO 19th century In Russia, the institution of military clergy emerged. He united the priesthood, which looked after the army and navy, into an independent church-administrative structure. Several years ago, the state and the Church took a step towards reviving this institution: full-time military chaplains again appeared in the army. In St. Petersburg, the work of the Church with the army and navy is coordinated by the department for interaction with the Armed Forces and law enforcement agencies of the St. Petersburg diocese, which celebrates its tenth anniversary in 2015.

The emergence of spiritual "special forces"

The first written mention of the priesthood in the Russian army dates back to the Kazan campaign of John IV (the Terrible) in 1552. A long siege was being prepared, and the king took care of the spiritual support of the soldiers. The Liturgy was served in the camp camp. Many warriors, led by the king, took communion and “prepared to begin the mortal feat clean.” Some researchers believe that priests previously accompanied the people's militia, but at first they were parish priests. After military campaigns they returned to their dioceses.

“Special purpose” priests appeared in Russia in the middle of the 17th century, under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, when the standing army that had been born two centuries earlier began to rapidly increase.

More more development The military clergy was promoted by Peter I, who created a regular army and navy in Russia, and with them a full-time regimental and naval clergy. During hostilities, the first was subordinate to the field chief priest appointed in the army (usually from the “white” clergy), the second to the naval chief hieromonk. However, in peacetime, military priests were under the control of the bishops of the diocese to which the regiment or crew of the ship was assigned. Double subordination was ineffective, and in 1800 Paul I concentrated all control of the military clergy in the hands of the chief priest of the army and navy. The newly created position was filled by Archpriest Pavel Ozeretskovsky, with whose name the beginning of the institution of military clergy is associated.

Military priests went through with honor all the battles of the 19th century that befell Russia in abundance. By the end of the century, the protracted process of forming a spiritual department was completed. The main power in it again began to belong to one person - the protopresbyter of the army and navy. Further, the vertical control looked like this: the main priests of the districts - the main priests of the armies - divisional, brigade, garrison deans - regimental, hospital and prison priests. As a church administrator, the protopresbyter of the army and navy was comparable in position to the diocesan bishop, but had more rights. The first to occupy this high post was Archpriest Alexander Alekseevich Zhelobovsky.

I serve the Fatherland: Earthly and Heavenly

The most numerous spiritual “detachment” before the revolution was the regimental priesthood. Father in tsarist army was considered the main educator, he had to inspire soldiers to be loyal to the Tsar and the Fatherland to the point of being ready to lay down their lives for them, setting an example in this. Russian priests took up arms only in exceptional cases, subsequently bringing church repentance for this. However, history has brought to us many cases when a priest with a cross in his hands led an attack that threatened to choke or walked under bullets next to a timid soldier, supporting his spirit. It was a field unknown to the world ascetics, devout servants of the faith.

Military priests conducted services and monitored their attendance (by order of the troops, all personnel had to take communion at least once a year). They performed funeral services for their fallen fellow soldiers, informed their relatives of their deaths, and monitored the condition of military cemeteries, which as a result were the most well-groomed. During the battle, priests at the forward dressing station helped bandage the wounded. In peacetime, they taught the Law of God, held spiritual conversations with those who wished, monitored the improvement of churches, organized libraries, and parochial schools for illiterate soldiers. In the strict army hierarchy, the position of a regimental chaplain was equal to that of a captain. The soldiers were obliged to salute him, but at the same time the priest remained an accessible and close person to them.

"Military" department of our time

was recreated in 2005 by decree. Historically, it developed during the 19th century. The first dean known to us today can be called the rector of the square, Archpriest Peter Pesotsky, famous theme that he took his last confession from A.S. Pushkin. Father Peter Pesotsky participated in Patriotic War 1812 as dean of the St. Petersburg and Novgorod militias.

Today, the military deanery district includes 17 parishes, 43 churches (of which 15 are affiliated) and 11 chapels at military and law enforcement institutions in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region. To coordinate work with law enforcement agencies, which was previously carried out separately at the level of individual parishes, a special one was created under the St. Petersburg diocese ten years ago. Since the founding of the department, the position of head of the department for interaction with the Armed Forces and law enforcement agencies and dean of “military” churches has been held by Archpriest Alexander - since April 2013, Hieromonk Alexy - and since April 2014. In May 2014, he was appointed deputy chairman of the superior Synodal Department.
The military deanery of the St. Petersburg diocese is under the jurisdiction of 31 churches and 14 chapels, including those being restored and those being designed.
Full-time clergy - 28 clergy: 23 priests and five deacons. The deanery supports 11 military universities.

In 2009, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and His Holiness Patriarch Kirill decided to introduce full-time military clergy into the Armed Forces. In our military district, he became the first full-time army chaplain, with the title of “educational assistant to the commander of the 95th command brigade of the Western Military District.” Like the pre-revolutionary shepherds, Father Anatoly conducts services, conducts conversations, and goes with his unit for teachings. What is its contingent?

“This is a unique case,” Father Anatoly shares his three years of experience in the army. — Many soldiers in the army see a priest for the first time. And little by little they begin to understand that he is the same person. They begin to slowly become interested in issues of faith. Only a few recruits come churched. They leave - much more. Everyone comes with different moods. And I must set them up to carry out military duty, explain that no one will help us except themselves and the Lord God. And the guys understand this.

Pastoral care: Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Emergency Situations, Drug Control

The work of the “military” department of the St. Petersburg diocese is divided into sectors according to the types of law enforcement agencies. The most important thing for everyone is pastoral care. Prayers and services (where there are churches), taking the oath in a solemn atmosphere in churches or in the presence of the clergy, participation of priests in various events, consecration of weapons, banners, spiritual conversations with leadership, personnel have become a sign of today in many law enforcement units and military educational institutions.
“We are trying to unite our efforts in the fight against such a terrible scourge as drug addiction,” says the rector of the Trinity-Izmailovsky Cathedral, who works with employees of the State Drug Control Service. — We started interacting with the tax police in 1996, and later, when the State Drug Control Service became its successor, we continued to cooperate with it. Recently, in our cathedral - for the first time since the revolution - a new management banner was consecrated: solemnly, according to military rank, in the presence of two hundred employees dressed in full dress uniform, with orders and medals.

Cooperation between the Church and the Ministry of Emergency Situations began with a sad reason.

“In 1991, in a fire at the Leningrad Hotel, nine employees died,” says a colonel of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, who spent many years in service, talking about the work of his sector. fire department. “The then head of the department, Major General Leonid Isachenko, invited a priest and initiated the construction of a temple-chapel of the icon of the Mother of God.” Burning bush" For eight years we have been conducting an hour of spiritual culture with the operational management of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in St. Petersburg. We talk with senior management and personnel, watch films, organize pilgrimage trips.

To date, the department has reached agreements on cooperation between the diocese and the Leningrad Naval Base, the border department of the FSB of Russia in the Leningrad region, the courier service of the Federal Service of Russia in the North-West, the Leningrad Military District, as well as with the Central Internal Affairs Directorate, the North-Western Regional Command of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs RF, GUFSIN, All-Russian Police Association, Office of the Federal Drug Control Service.

School of Military Clergy

Where do “special purpose priests” come from? Someone accidentally ends up in this place, someone continues the “military” line of their secular life (for example, they graduated from a higher military school before ordination or simply served in the army), and someone specially studies at a “school”. In 2011, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, the first “School of Military Clergy” in Russia was opened at the “military” department on the basis of the Sunday school of the church-chapel of the icon of the Mother of God “Burning Bush”. In it, cadet priests are taught the specifics of military service: how to equip a tent for a camp church during field trips, how to set it up in the barracks, how and what a priest should do in a combat area. In 2013, the school had its first graduation.

The “military” department also operates the St. Macarius theological and pedagogical courses, to which Orthodox Christians are invited who want to become catechists - assistants to the “military” priests. The training program lasts a year, course graduates are involved in educational service in various educational institutions and military units of the army and navy.

Priests in “hot spots”

In February - March 2003, even before the formation of the department, Archpriest Alexander Ganzhin was seconded to the Chechen Republic, where he supported employees of the Federal Agency for Government Communications and Information under the President Russian Federation(FAPSI). Since then, every year the clergy of the “military” department make 3-4 business trips to Dagestan, Ingushetia, and the Chechen Republic for pastoral care of the military units located there. One of these “fighting” priests is the rector of the garrison church of the Holy Trinity in Krasnoye Selo. Father Georgy is a former police captain, in the priesthood he has been in “hot spots” since the second Chechen war. In Chechnya, not far from Khankala, he had to not only serve services and hold high conversations with soldiers, but also bandage wounded soldiers under bullets.

“After the battle, most people need to speak out, they want human participation, understanding, they want to be pitied,” says Father Georgy. — A priest in such a situation is simply a salvation. Today, fortunately, fighting They happen less and less often, but when they happen, I see that the guys are ready to lay down their souls just to save my life. I usually live with them in tents, I put up a temple tent next to them - we hold prayer services and baptisms in it. I take part in campaigns, during military operations, if necessary, I provide medical care. A priest can refuse a military campaign, but we, priests, testify to our faith by our presence there. If the priest is cowardly, he will not be condemned, but priests will be judged by this act all their lives. We must be an example here too.

Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Kotkov, doctor pedagogical sciences, professor, author of the books “Military Clergy of Russia” and “Military Temples and Clergy of Russia”:

“The feat of the military priests has not been fully appreciated. The archives of the office of the Protopresbyter of the Army and Navy are located in St. Petersburg. I take many cases and see that no one has looked at them before me. And they contain colossal experience of the work of the military clergy, which must be studied today, when the understanding has again arisen that military power, combined with spiritual height, is an irresistible force.

Youth are our future

In addition to confrontation physical strength and technical power there is also a quiet struggle for the minds of future warriors and future citizens. The loser may lose the future of his country.

“The level of patriotic education in schools has now dropped significantly,” says the deputy chairman of the “military” department. — The hours of Russian history, literature, and the Russian language have been reduced. If in pre-revolutionary Russia children studied the Law of God with school days, organically absorbed faith from birth, today they come to the army not only as non-believers, but they don’t even really know the history of their country. How then can we cultivate the spirit of patriotism?

A program for the spiritual and patriotic education of youth, prepared by the “military” department, helps fill the gaps and “win back” young people from social networks and computer “shooters.” In all churches of the military deanery there are organized Sunday schools, many have military-patriotic clubs. For example, when teenagers study what is forgotten today in secondary schools basic military training course.

Large-scale projects for children and youth have become the hallmark of the department. This is a martial arts tournament included in the competition grid of the Ministry of Defense, dedicated to the memory of the warrior Yevgeny Rodionov, at which the mother of the hero-martyr Lyubov Vasilievna is always present; All-Russian gathering of military-patriotic and Cossack youth organizations named after the Holy Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky, where teams compete in knowledge of history, combat, medical, and combat training. The children's historical forum “Alexandrovsky Flag” also attracts hundreds of participants from all over Russia.

The “military” department also cooperates with veteran organizations: this is the “Combat Brotherhood”, and associations of former special forces and intelligence servicemen. Veterans are frequent guests at various events and irreplaceable mentors for young people. The ovation given by the audience to the gray-haired war hero and the quiet chime of the orders on his chest can explain to girls and boys faster than any words what patriotism is.

Athletes and veterans

Another area of ​​work of the “military” department is cooperation with martial arts clubs. Many people ask why Orthodox priests need to fight?

“I’ll answer from my own experience,” says Hieromonk Leonid (Mankov). - IN gym I came when I was nine years old, and the first sport I became interested in was karate. Then he practiced hand-to-hand combat and competed. And this was very useful to me in the army, in “hot spots”.

Military shepherds look after the martial arts clubs “Alexander Nevsky”, “Fight Spirit” and the “Union of Mixed Martial Arts MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) of Russia”, the president of which is the famous athlete Fedor Emelianenko. They are friends with many famous coaches and athletes and regularly attend competitions.

Athletes are also confident in the need for such cooperation:

— A priest can help cope with many problems within men's team, - convinced Russian champion in hand-to-hand combat, Russian and European champion in jiu-jitsu, two-time Russian champion and world champion in combat sambo Mikhail Zayats. “There is a serious struggle going on here, not only externally, but also internally. When a martial artist achieves high results, there is a risk of “star fever”, the danger of putting yourself above everyone else. Spiritual nourishment helps not to fall into this sin, but to remain, first of all, human under any circumstances.

Strong-willed

The deeper you dive into the work of the “military” department, the more you understand how grandiose its scope is. It is enough to look at the department’s website or pick up its newspaper “Orthodox Warrior” to understand that it is not for nothing that the “military” department received the title of the most information-open within the diocese. The number of events held is huge, wide and the scope of those involved in the sphere of cooperation with the department is from youth to veterans, from privates to generals. Fortunately, military priests today rarely have to raise a bullet-cut cross over their heads. But modernity has its own tasks. Uniting patriotically thinking people around the idea of ​​serving the Motherland - this is a high mission, voluntarily taken and worthily fulfilled today by the military priesthood. In the new television project “Strong in Spirit,” employees of the “military” department decided to talk about military exploits sanctified by the Orthodox faith.

But perhaps this is precisely the epithet - “ strong-willed"- is perfectly suited both for the staff of the “military” department and for those who choose to serve as a military shepherd.

The last dean of the military clergy of the St. Petersburg diocese before the 1917 revolution was Alexei Andreevich Stavrovsky (from 1892 to 1918), who was shot in the fall of 1918 in Kronstadt and in 2001 canonized as a new martyr of the Russian Church.

Who are military chaplains? What “hot spots” do they serve in and how do they live? Archpriest Sergius Privalov, Chairman of the Synodal Department for Cooperation with the Armed Forces, spoke about the role military clergy play in conflict areas and how they help soldiers in the “Image” program in Constantinople.

What is special about military priests?

Veronica Ivashchenko: First, let me ask: what role do clergymen play in armed forces today? Russian forces?

Sergiy Privalov: The role has always been high. This role is to bring a spiritual component to serving the Fatherland.

Currently, a military priest is, on the one hand, the same priest as in the parish. But there is one, probably the most fundamental difference. He is ready to be with the military personnel. He is ready to be with those who defend our Fatherland, our Motherland, our original traditions, our spiritual life. And in this case, the clergyman becomes not only one of those who defend with weapons. But he brings a spiritual meaning to this armed defense.

Extra strength.

Not only additional spiritual strength, but, on the other hand, a moral component. Because a clergyman is a person who has a calling from God. He introduces humanization and understanding into the military formation of the service to which military personnel are called. People with weapons - for them this is responsible obedience. And the use of this most perfect weapon today should be in clean hands, with a moral tuning fork in the soul of every person. And this, first of all, is characteristic of what a clergyman brings to the army.

Orthodox priests in Syria

Father Sergius, our military personnel are now participating in hostilities in Syria. Tell me, somehow in these difficult conditions they are spiritually nourished Orthodox priests?

Yes. Divine services are held almost daily. At the Khmeimim air base, a full-time military chaplain is present with the military personnel. Moreover, on major holidays, great holidays, the Russian Orthodox Church sends additional clergy and choristers to participate in services not only at the Khmeimim airbase, but also at the Tartus naval base.

In Khmeimim, just recently, the consecration of an Orthodox chapel in honor of the Holy Great Martyr George the Victorious took place. And the temple in Tartus should soon be consecrated in honor of the holy righteous warrior Fyodor Ushakov. Here are the bishops, both Tartu and the bishop who covers the Antiochian Patriarchate with an omophorion and, in particular, the air base in Khmeimim, blessed the construction of Orthodox church ecclesiastical buildings. And just recently we took part with Bishop Anthony of Akhtubinsky and Enotaevsky in the consecration of this chapel. The entire staff was present at the consecration.

That's why the priests are nearby. The priests are inside military formations, they are together with the military personnel, even in these so-called “hot spots”.

Our main weapon is prayer

Father Sergius, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill recently spoke about the ideal of a Christ-loving army, citing the example of the war in the Middle East. Is it really impossible to fight this very terrible enemy only with the help of weapons?

Certainly. That is why the Russian Orthodox Church prays. Our most important weapon is prayer. And the more followers there are Christian faith in the world, the purer, the more spiritual, the more peaceful humanity will become.

Therefore, the religion of love, Christianity, is a potential that people should resort to. They must compare other religions, and, first of all, those people who reject religion altogether and want to be the so-called. atheists. Or those who choose the path of pseudo-religion, terrorism. In this case, Christianity reveals the meaning and the basis to which one must resort in order to win the spiritual battle. In this case, prayer should be the natural state of the soul of an Orthodox warrior.

And perhaps this is why the demand for military chaplains is growing so much?

Of course, and especially in “hot spots”. When people feel that not only the force of arms is needed. You need confidence in your actions. You need confidence in the correctness of your service. Inside a military unit, formations. And the most important thing is that people, turning to Christ, receive this help. Many people put on Orthodox crosses for the first time. Many are baptized. Many come to confession and holy communion for the first time. This is, in fact, a joyful event for the clergy.

There are now about 170 full-time military chaplains

Tell me, how many military priests are there now?

There are currently about 170 military clergy. These are the ones who are regularly appointed. And more than 500 in different quality, we call them freelance military clergy, they serve in military units. He came periodically, performed divine services, and cared for his flock.

Tell me, can they be called chaplains, is this correct?

Well, in the Russian Orthodox Church the word "chaplain" is more associated with Catholicism or Protestantism. And in our everyday life they are sometimes called chaplains. Which may not be entirely correct, but there is a tendency to call military clergy the same as they are uniformly called in the West. But I think that every military clergyman, of course, does not change his spiritual inner content because of this.

Please tell us what are the requirements for their selection? Do they participate in military exercises with regular military personnel?

Firstly, the selection is quite tough. First of all, it concerns spiritual education. That is, we select those clergy who have enough high level both spiritual and secular education. The second criterion is skills to work in a military environment. That is, they must have experience in pastoral service and care for military units. And third, of course, is health. That is, a person must be ready for this service, he must express a desire to undergo the appropriate selection through the Ministry of Defense, in personnel bodies. And only after this, and on the recommendation of the ruling bishop of his diocese, is he considered by the Synodal Department for Cooperation with the Armed Forces. And this decision is approved by the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation.

By the way, which ones are the most popular in your department right now? thorny issues?

I would not say that some issues are particularly acute and we are not able to solve them. That is, everything that is happening today is a solvable problem.

Of course, one of these problems is personnel composition military clergy. We have 268 full-time positions, and so far 170 have been appointed. Therefore, in distant regions, in the north, the Far East, the full-time positions of military clergy are not yet fully staffed. And then an appropriate basis for spiritual enlightenment must be formed. That is, we really want the priest to be heard, so that the appropriate time and place are allocated where the priest talks about Christ, about the spiritual foundations of military service to the Fatherland. For this, we still need to go through a lot in the military environment, to ensure that we are understood, heard and given such an opportunity. Not only, as some say, with each soldier individually, but also with large units at the same time.

From officers to military chaplains

Father Sergius, many military priests were officers in the past, including you, right?

Right.

Please tell us, does it often happen that military men become priests?

Well, firstly, a person who himself has come to know Christ, he can no longer help but talk about him. If a person was previously in an officer position, then he understands that the next stage of his service is to carry the word of God already in the priesthood. But, again, among those whom he knows best and is best oriented in a given situation within military units.

And therefore, the percentage of those who were previously officers, or completed military service, perhaps as contract soldiers, is quite high. But this is not the only and correct criterion for selecting military priests. Because there are military clergy who have never even served in the army.

But at the same time, in spirit and with their love, they are so close to the military units and to those guys who serve in the troops that they have acquired such authority. They truly became fathers to these military guys. Therefore, here we need to look at the spiritual calling. And the Lord himself calls. And if so, then a person cannot help but serve his neighbor. And who needs it most? Of course, the military. Because for them Christ is protection. For them, Christ is their support. For them, the Savior is the goal of life. Because it is precisely when they are inside in such difficult conditions that they turn to God sincerely. And in this case, the priest should be nearby. He must support the children with his prayer, and, first of all, spiritually instruct them.

More and more believers among the military

How do priests influence the relationships between military personnel? Maybe the situation with hazing has changed, do they affect moral development?

Probably, the most important thing is that a person’s attitude to society, to the world, to himself and to religion, in principle, has changed. That is, the number of believers and who consciously say that they are Orthodox, you spoke about 78%, now the percentage is even higher, more than 79%.

And the most important thing is that the guys, the military personnel, are not afraid to profess their faith. They consciously cross themselves, go to churches, and participate in divine services. This is probably the most important thing that happened with the arrival or participation of clergy in military units.

The second is a change in the internal climate inside military units. Military discipline has changed, or even improved. I think that in many ways these questions, of course, are not only for priests, and it is their merit that hazing is coming to naught. Firstly, these are very correct and competent decisions of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Sergei Kuzhegetovich Shoigu. And hazing itself, which involves a two-year conscription, when some are senior and junior in relation to other military personnel - this artificial division led to conflicts.

Now this is not the case. All serve only one year. This time. And secondly, the tasks that the armed forces solve have become, first of all, combat ones. People are being prepared for war. And therefore they try to treat their service accordingly. Exercises, transfers, regroupings.

This all suggests that there is no time to engage in any kind of hazing. It is clear that anything can happen. But the attitude of man to man within the military collective is changing for the better. Because they are now doing their duty. Sometimes in isolation from one's own native land. And very often with the participation of serious events that require concentration, the brotherly shoulder of your colleague. All this, well, taken together, naturally improves the situation inside military units. And the priests are always nearby.+

That is, during field exercises, they go out with the military personnel, set up their tents, temple-tents, and try to pray with them. That is, this is, in fact, the real combat work of a military clergyman.

Recently, the first official graduation of military priests took place at the Military University of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. Fifteen people who received positions as full-time assistant commanders of formations and military units for work with religious servicemen. They underwent special training for a month, and will soon be sent to their units.

For me, as a consistent atheist (with a dash of Gnosticism), this is one of the most controversial news stories of recent times. Too many questions arise in connection with the institution of chaplaincy in relation to our army. But let's start from the stove.

Since the 15th century, there have always been Orthodox priests in the Russian army, instructing and helping soldiers not to get lost in the monotony of army life and the horrors of war if one happened. So, according to Wiki, in 1545, Archpriest Andrei of the Annunciation Cathedral and a council of clergy took part in the Kazan campaign with Ivan the Terrible. It is unknown what happened next, but I don’t think that the priesthood was not present in the life of the army. And in the 17th century, under Alexei Mikhailovich, military priests were officially given salaries, the same continued under Fyodor Alekseevich and under our Europeanized Emperor Peter, who introduced the ranks of chief hieromonks of the fleet and chief field priests. And all this despite the split and church reform. At the end of the 19th century, 5 thousand military chaplains and several hundred chaplains served in the army of the Russian Empire. And in the “Wild Division,” for example, mullahs also served. In this case, the priest was equal to the rank of officer and received the corresponding salary.

According to Archpriest Dmitry Smirnov, in post-Soviet times Orthodox priests immediately joined the army, but did their work for free. But in 1994, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II and the then Minister of Defense Pavel Grachev signed a cooperation agreement. This document became the basis for the creation of the Coordination Committee for interaction between the Armed Forces and the Russian Orthodox Church. In February 2006, the Patriarch gave his blessing to train military priests, and in May of the same year, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke in favor of re-establishing the institution of military priests.

How many and what kind of priestsneed to

The President then, in 2011, gave the order to create an institute of military chaplains in the army and navy by the end of the year. At first, they were going to teach priests at the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School named after. Margelov, then - in one of the military universities in Moscow. And finally the choice fell on the Military University of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. Full-time regimental priests appeared in the Russian army in December 2012, but the first graduation of “new priests” took place only now.

Chief priest Russian Airborne Forces Priest Mikhail Vasiliev in 2007 assessed the need for clergy in Russian troops as follows: about 400 Orthodox priests, 30-40 Muslim mullahs, 2-3 Buddhist lamas and 1-2 Jewish rabbis. In reality, there are still Orthodox priests and mullahs in the army. Representatives of other faiths are not “called”. So what about representatives of other faiths? Discriminate against them as minorities? Or create an entire “spiritual support” unit for each unit? Or should we make assistants working with religious military personnel into universal ecumenists, capable of conducting confession and performing prayer? Will they be given a tambourine and peyote then?

With the institute of chaplains in small and mono-confessional countries, it is clear that there is no such problem there. In a Catholic country these will be Catholics, in a Protestant country - Protestants, in a Muslim country - Imams. But there are fewer and fewer of them on the map, most of The planet is gradually becoming religiously tolerant, and in Egypt, almost Orthodox Copts have been living next to Muslims for centuries.

If we had faith in the God-Emperor, as in the Warhammer 40k novels, then everything would also be simple - these would be commissars performing the functions of a priest and an inquisitor in one person. But we don’t live in a fantasy world, everything is more complicated here.

And there is another important aspect, moral. As you know, pop schismatic, “patriarch” of the unrecognized Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate Filaret blessed the punitive squads to kill Russians. It is clear that he is an impostor, that he is a former criminal and has been excommunicated from the Orthodox Church. But besides him, a number of Greek Catholic priests also did the same thing—a blessing for murder—with Western Ukraine. And I really don’t want Orthodox priests to be in any way like such bloodthirsty, dare I say it, heretics.

Not an offensive, but a defense from evil

Still, you must agree that real, non-formal Christianity is opposite to war and murder. I may be an atheist, but the philosophical views of Berdyaev, Seraphim of Sarov and a number of other Christian philosophers are close and even dear to me. Therefore, I would like to distance him as much as possible from such an unpleasant and forced thing as war.

We never had crusades (there were ones against us); Russians always perceived war as a forced occupation. The presence of priests in the army somehow ennobles the war, and this is wrong. If I understand anything about spirituality, then when a person goes to war, even if forced, he leaves the sphere of spirituality, and therefore he needs to return to it after purification.

A blessing for war is already something from the category of Got mit uns or the American “We are God’s chosen nation,” delusions of grandeur that cannot end in anything good. Therefore, if this institution finally takes root, military priests should only be people who will understand this fine line between “comfort and encourage” and “bless to kill.” A priest in war is only about mercy and healing souls, but not crusade or jihad.

By the way, the army also talks about this. Thus, according to the acting head of the department (for work with religious servicemen) of the Main Directorate for work with personnel of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Igor Semenchenko, "The task of clergy in the Armed Forces is to create, taking into account the specifics military service the necessary conditions for the fulfillment by believing military personnel of their religious needs".

As you can see, “everything is not so simple.” But I won’t be a militant atheist waving a copy of Darwin and demanding “ban and abolish.” Let this be an experiment, very careful and unobtrusive. And then we'll see.

Believers call Easter the celebration of all celebrations. For them, the Resurrection of Christ is main holiday Orthodox calendar. For the sixth time in a row, the modern Russian army celebrates Easter, overshadowed by military priests who appeared in units and formations after a ninety-year break.

At the origins of tradition

The idea of ​​reviving the institution of military priests in the Russian army arose among the hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) back in the mid-nineties. Great development she did not receive it, but secular leaders generally assessed the initiative of the Russian Orthodox Church positively. The favorable attitude of society towards church rituals was also influenced by the fact that after the liquidation of the staff of political workers, the education of personnel lost a clear ideological core. The post-communist elite was never able to formulate a new, vibrant national idea. Her search led many to a long-familiar religious perception of life.

The initiative of the Russian Orthodox Church floundered mainly because the main thing in this story was missing - the military priests themselves. The priest of an ordinary parish was not suitable for the role of, for example, the confessor of desperate paratroopers. Here there must be a person from their midst, respected not only for the wisdom of the religious sacrament, but also for military valor, at least for the obvious readiness for a feat of arms.

This is how the military priest Cyprian-Peresvet became. He himself formulated his biography as follows: first he was a warrior, then a cripple, then he became a priest, then a military priest. However, Cyprian dates his life only from 1991, when he took monastic vows in Suzdal. Three years later he was ordained a priest. The Siberian Cossacks, reviving the familiar Yenisei district, elected Cyprian as a military priest. The story of this ascetic of God deserves a separate detailed story. He went through both Chechen wars, was captured by Khattab, stood at the firing line, and survived his wounds. It was in Chechnya that the soldiers of the Sofrino brigade named Cyprian Peresvet for his courage and military patience. He also had his own call sign “YAK-15” so that the soldiers would know: the priest was next to them. Supports them with soul and prayer. Chechen comrades called Cyprian-Peresvet their Brother, the Sofrintsy called Batya.

After the war, in June 2005 in St. Petersburg, Cyprian will take monastic vows into the Great Schema, becoming the elder schema-abbot Isaac, but in the memory of Russian soldiers he will remain the first military priest of modern times.

And before him - the great and blessed history of the Russian military clergy. For me and, probably, for the Sofrintsy, it begins in 1380, when the Monk Sergius, abbot of the Russian land and the Wonderworker of Radonezh, blessed Prince Dmitry for the battle for the liberation of Rus' from the Tatar yoke. He gave him his monks to help him - Rodion Oslyabya and Alexander Peresvet. It is Peresvet who will then go out onto the Kulikovo field to duel with the Tatar hero Chelubey. The battle will begin with their mortal combat. Russian army will defeat the horde of Mamai. People will associate this victory with the blessing of St. Sergius. The monk Peresvet, who fell in single combat, will be canonized. And we will call the day of the Battle of Kulikovo - September 21 (September 8 according to the Julian calendar) the Day of Military Glory of Russia.

There are more than six centuries between the two Peresvets. This time included a lot - arduous service to God and the Fatherland, pastoral exploits, grandiose battles and great upheavals.

According to military regulations

Like everything in the Russian army, military spiritual service organizational structure first found in the Military Regulations of Peter I of 1716. The reformer emperor considered it necessary to have a priest in every regiment, on every ship. The naval clergy were predominantly hieromonks. They were headed by the chief hieromonk of the fleet. The clergy of the ground forces were subordinate to the field chief priest active army, and in peacetime - to the bishop of the diocese on whose territory the regiment is stationed.

By the end of the century, Catherine II placed a single chief priest of the army and navy at the head of the military and naval clergy. It was autonomous from the Synod, had the right of direct reporting to the Empress and the right of direct communication with the diocesan hierarchs. A regular salary was established for the military clergy. After twenty years of service, the priest was awarded a pension.

The structure received a military-style finished look and logical subordination, but was corrected over the course of a whole century. So, in June 1890, the Emperor Alexander III approved the Regulations on the management of churches and clergy of the military and naval departments. He established the title of “protopresbyter of the military and naval clergy.” All churches of regiments, fortresses, military hospitals and educational institutions were placed under his jurisdiction (except for Siberia, in which, “due to the range of distances,” the military clergy was subordinate to the diocesan bishops.)

The economy turned out to be solid. The department of the protopresbyter of the military and naval clergy included 12 cathedrals, 3 house churches, 806 regimental churches, 12 serfs, 24 hospital churches, 10 prison churches, 6 port churches, 34 churches at various institutions (407 churches in total), 106 archpriests, 337 priests, 2 protodeacon, 55 deacons, 68 psalm-readers (total - 569 clergy). The Office of the Protopresbyter published its own magazine, “Bulletin of the Military Clergy.”

The highest Regulations determined the service rights of the military clergy and maintenance salaries. The chief priest (protopresbyter) was equated to a lieutenant general, the chief priest of the General Staff, Guards or Grenadier Corps - to a major general, the archpriest - to a colonel, the rector of a military cathedral or temple, as well as the divisional dean - to a lieutenant colonel. The regimental priest (equal to the captain) received almost the full captain's ration: a salary of 366 rubles per year, the same amount of canteens, bonuses were provided for length of service, reaching (for 20 years of service) up to half the established salary. Equal military pay was observed for all clergy ranks.

Dry statistics give only general idea about clergy in the Russian army. Life brings its bright colors into this picture. Between the two Peresvets there were wars, difficult battles. There were also their Heroes. Here is priest Vasily Vasilkovsky. His feat will be described in order for the Russian army No. 53 dated March 12, 1813 by Commander-in-Chief M.I. Kutuzov: “The 19th Jaeger Regiment, priest Vasilkovsky in the battle of Maly Yaroslavets, being in front of the riflemen with a cross, prudent instructions and personal With courage he encouraged the lower ranks to fight without fear for the Faith, the Tsar and the Fatherland, and was cruelly wounded in the head by a bullet. In the battle of Vitebsk he showed the same courage, where he received a bullet wound in the leg. I presented the initial testimony of such excellent actions, fearless in battle, and zealous service of Vasilkovsky to the Emperor, and His Majesty deigned to award him the Order of the Holy Great Martyr and Victorious George, 4th class.”

This was the first time in history that a military priest was awarded the Order of St. George. Father Vasily will be awarded the order on March 17, 1813. In the fall of the same year (November 24), he died on a trip abroad from his wounds. Vasily Vasilkovsky was only 35 years old.

Let's jump one century to another great war- The First World War. This is what the famous Russian military leader, General A.A., wrote about that time. Brusilov: “In those terrible counterattacks, black figures flashed among the soldiers’ tunics - regimental priests, tucking up their cassocks, walked with the soldiers in rough boots, encouraging the timid with simple gospel words and behavior... They remained there forever, in the fields of Galicia, without being separated from their flock.”

For heroism shown during the First World War, about 2,500 military priests will be awarded state awards and will be presented with 227 golden pectoral crosses on the St. George Ribbon. The Order of St. George will be awarded to 11 people (four posthumously).

The Institute of Military and Naval Clergy in the Russian Army was liquidated by order of the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs on January 16, 1918. 3,700 priests will be fired from the army. Many are then repressed as class alien elements...

Crosses on buttonholes

The efforts of the Church yielded results by the end of the 2000s. Initiated by priests in 2008-2009 opinion polls showed that the number of believers in the army reaches 70 percent of the personnel. The then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was informed about this. With his assignment to the military department, a new time of spiritual service in the Russian army begins. The President signed this order on July 21, 2009. He obliged the Minister of Defense to accept necessary solutions, aimed at introducing the institution of military clergy in the Russian Armed Forces.

Carrying out the president's instructions, the military will not copy the structures that existed in the tsarist army. They will start by creating a Directorate for working with religious servicemen within the Main Directorate of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation for working with personnel. Its staff will include 242 positions of assistant commanders (chiefs) for work with religious military personnel, replaced by clergy of traditional religious associations of Russia. This will happen in January 2010.

For five years, it was not possible to fill all the proposed vacancies. Religious organizations even submitted an abundance of their candidates to the Department of Defense. But the bar for the military's demands turned out to be high. So far they have accepted only 132 clergymen to work in the troops on a regular basis - 129 Orthodox, two Muslims and one Buddhist. (I note, by the way, that in the army of the Russian Empire they were also attentive to believers of all faiths. Catholic soldiers were supervised by several hundred chaplains. Mullahs served in national-territorial formations, such as the “Wild Division.” Jews were allowed to attend territorial synagogues.)

High demands for priestly service probably grew out of the best samples spiritual shepherding in the Russian army. Maybe even from those that I remembered today. At least the priests are being prepared for serious tests. Their robes will no longer unmask their priests, as happened in the battle formations of the unforgettable Brusilov breakthrough. The Ministry of Defense together with the Synodal Department of the Moscow Patriarchate for interaction with Armed forces and law enforcement agencies developed “Rules for wearing uniforms by military clergy.” They were approved by Patriarch Kirill.

According to the rules, military chaplains “when organizing work with religious military personnel in conditions of military operations, during a state of emergency, liquidation of accidents, hazardous natural phenomena, catastrophes, natural and other disasters, during exercises, classes, combat duty (combat service)” will wear not church vestments, but a field military uniform. Unlike the uniform of military personnel, it does not provide shoulder straps, sleeve and breastplates for the corresponding branch of the military. Only the buttonholes will decorate orthodox crosses dark color of the established pattern. When performing a divine service in the field, the priest must wear an epitrachelion, braces and a priestly cross over his uniform.

The basis for spiritual work in the troops and navy is also being seriously updated. Today, only in the territories under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense, more than 160 Orthodox churches and chapels. Military churches are being built in Severomorsk and Gadzhievo (Northern Fleet), at the air base in Kant (Kyrgyzstan), and in other garrisons. The Church of St. Archangel Michael in Sevastopol, the building of which was previously used as a branch of the Black Sea Fleet Museum, has again become a military temple. Defense Minister S.K. Shoigu decided to allocate rooms for prayer rooms in all formations and on rank 1 ships.

...A new history is being written for military spiritual service. What will it be like? Definitely worthy! This is obligated by centuries-old traditions, melted into national character, - heroism, perseverance and courage of Russian soldiers, diligence, patience and dedication of military priests. In the meantime, the great holiday of Easter is in military churches, and the collective communion of soldiers is like new step in readiness to serve the Fatherland, the World and God.