Russian troops gifted dead prince’s hand in bizarre bid to boost morale as Kremlin suffers mass casualties

They’re getting a helping hand. The Russian Orthodox Church sent fragments of a medieval prince’s hand to soldiers in the frontlines as a means to raise morale and provide “spiritual strength” to end the war. The church, which backs Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, said it dispatched a fragment of Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy’s sword hand to soldiers in the occupied region of Donetsk. The Moscow ⁠Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church said sending the prince’s remains served as a symbol to allow the so-called “holy commander” to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Moscow’s invading army. “A fragment of the...