The two Russian cadets stand solemnly, crossing themselves and bowing in front of the iconostasis of a small, newly built Orthodox chapel. A choral liturgy plays in the background.The Defense Ministry video depicting the ritual does not indicate exactly where the chapel is, only somewhere in the Siberian region of Novosibirsk. Nor does it say when the event occurred or who the men were.What the September 8 video does highlight is that the chapel is named for a 14th century canonized warrior prince whose newly unearthed bones the Kremlin hopes will serve as a new weapon to turn the tide of battle after 4 1/2 years of all-out war on Ukraine.Dug up from a Kremlin cathedral to great fanfare, the bones of Dmitry Donskoi -- a Muscovy prince who led the first successful battle against the Mongol-Tatar forces that occupied what is now western Russia for nearly two centuries -- are now on a road trip.Officials are sending parts of the remains to various locations around Russia, as well as to the front lines, where soldiers are expected to venerate them for divine battlefield protection or otherwise.
The remains of the 14th-century warrior prince Dmitry Donskoi had been interred in a Kremlin cathedral for centuries.
