Donbass: Earth and Heavenly Defense
Over the past two days in the capital of the Donetsk People's Republic two striking events occurred. February 24 new army unit was solemnly presented with a banner. And February 25 - the first divine service in a long time was held in the Iversky monastery destroyed by ukrokaratel. These two events, following one after another, symbolize that the Donbass is protected by the army on earth, and the Most High in heaven.
The new division, Vityaz, will assist the Ministry of Transport of the DPR. That is - to ensure the safety of transportation, to protect transport facilities from those who are trying to harm the Republic.
Unfortunately, ukrodvershersam sometimes manage to do their dirty work. For example, railway lines between Yasinovataya stations (controlled by the DPR) and Skatotovaya (controlled by Ukraine) are regularly undermined. This is done in order to strengthen the blockade of the Donetsk People's Republic. The Minsk agreements do not allow such an embargo to be opened in the open, so they act with similar methods. Recently, due to the diversion on this site, one train has even gone off the rails. The saboteurs also often damage trains, mine bridges — the Kiev junta is unprofitable, so that there will be at least some railway connection in the DPR.
Therefore, the Republic needs a unit that would work in close cooperation with the Ministry of Transport. And it was created three months ago. And February 24 on the square in front of the Donetsk railway station (which, by the way, was also often subjected to ukro shelling), the DPR Defense Minister Vladimir Kononov handed the battle banner to the Vityaz unit. “Take care of your banner. Carry it with honor and dignity, ”he addressed the fighters.
For their part, the “knights” have demonstrated their combat training. In a demonstration performance, they neutralized the "terrorists" who, according to the scenario, tried to undermine the car. Hand-to-hand combat techniques and the art of breaking objects (tameshivari) were also shown.
The ceremony was also observed by civilians who greeted the fighters with enthusiastic applause. Although some impressionable women were a little afraid of shooting and worried about the guys who smashed various objects with their heads, but they also shouted “Well done!”.
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And the next day, February 25, from the same Donetsk railway station, specially selected buses drove everyone to the Iversky Monastery, located practically on the front line itself.
The fighting in the area began from the very first day of the Ukrainian aggression against Donetsk - 26 May 2014. Since then, about any services in the St. Iversky nunnery, located near the Donetsk airport, the speech has not gone. The nuns remained there for some time - until the moment when Metropolitan Donetsk and Mariupol Hilarion ordered them to leave the area dangerous for life.
25 February Orthodox Christians celebrate the Day of the Iberian Icon of the Mother of God. And the same Metropolitan Hilarion blessed the divine liturgy held in the monastery.
And hundreds of people were not afraid to come to where you can catch a stray bullet or a fragment at any moment. There were those who came there for the first time. Not being churched, these people thus expressed their solidarity by coming to a ruined temple.
The bus drove along the road, pitted with craters, past broken, dead houses. When he approached the monastery temple, many who saw him in this state for the first time were shocked. After all, once this temple was a dazzling snow-white ...
Previously, volunteers worked here. They took tons of all kinds of stones, fragments, debris and everything that was previously walls, icons, furniture, but turned into a pile of construction waste. The very monastic icon of the Iberian Mother of God was saved and taken out.
Other buildings on the territory of the monastery are in a similar condition.
For three hours the Pitmen stood there, in a temple without a roof, where it was cold (the wind blew everyone mercilessly). Plaster poured from the ceiling and walls. The surroundings were drowned in fog, the air was very humid, and at times water was dripping from the surviving chandeliers, as if tears flowed from a desecrated shrine. And, of course, somewhere very close there were terrible sounds typical of the contact line.
The festive divine service was headed by the Archbishop of Makeevka Barnabas, in co-serving with the priests from other Donetsk churches.
Next to the monastery is the Iverskoe cemetery. It is fenced with tape, warning signs constantly hang: “The cemetery is mined”. "Caution mines", etc. Walking on its territory is prohibited. Therefore, many of those whose relatives are buried there have been unable to visit the graves of loved ones for more than a year.
Many gravestones are destroyed.
Someone put the carnations right in front of the fencing tape in order to honor the memory of dear people so much.
Iveron Icon of the Virgin, according to legend, was written by the Evangelist Luke. Its original was originally located in Nicaea, and then was moved to the Iversky Monastery on Mount Athos. Iverskaya differs from other icons depicting the Virgin Mary in that the Mother of God is depicted as wounded. Once, as the legend says, in the 9th century, during the Saracen raid on Nicaea, one of the conquerors pierced the icon with a spear. Suddenly she blacked out. And the barbarian, seeing this, repented and then became a monk.
Do modern ukrosaracins who destroyed the Iversky Monastery repent of their barbarism?
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