After February 15, 2026, when the Russian Orthodox Church marked World Orthodox Youth Day, several dioceses reported events with a pronounced military-patriotic agenda. The most widely discussed case was a video from the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Obukhovo, where teenagers from the “Dynamit” center appeared in camouflage and with weapons in front of the iconostasis in the presence of the rector, Archpriest Sergey Reshetnyak.
On February 16, Bishop Nikolai (Pogrebnyak) of Balashikha and Orekhovo-Zuyevo temporarily suspended Reshetnyak, citing a violation of a patriarchal circular requiring youth events to be held outside church premises. Archpriest Mark Yermolaev, who also oversees cooperation with the armed forces in the Moscow Metropolis, was appointed acting rector.
Similar episodes were reported elsewhere. In Savvino, Archpriest Vitaly Kuleshov used the Feast of the Presentation to demonstrate a body armor vest and helmet on a teenage altar server. Religious scholar Ksenia Luchenko cited complaints from some parishioners who said the church was increasingly resembling a venue for tactical training lectures.
The article also describes priests serving in the combat zone. According to the text, more than 3,500 Russian priests have had contact with it. It mentions Archpriest Yevgeny Bakhmatov, who spoke of mass baptisms of soldiers, Priest Fyodor Zinchenko, who framed the war in religious terms, and Archpriest Andrey Kanev, who argued that participation in state-authorized combat does not violate the commandment “Thou shalt not kill.”
A separate section recounts the story of Priest Mikhail Shusharin from Kurgan, who volunteered in May 2023 for the “BARS-6” battalion. In Nigina Beroeva’s film “We Are Russians, a Priest Is with Us,” he speaks about fear, the psychological condition of fighters, and his own refusal to shoot to kill. The article presents these examples as evidence that the war has significantly altered the language, practices, and self-description of part of the Russian Orthodox clergy.