Russian Orthodox Church Offers Military Training for Kids

The Elisabeth Church in Opalikha, Moscow region is offering military training classes run by veterans of the war in Ukraine, for which schoolchildren as young as 12 years old can enroll.

A report in the Moscow Times has drawn attention to an announcement – which first appeared in March, posted on the website and Telegram channel of the Moscow region’s Krasnogorsk city administration – offering military survival courses.

The notice says the free, comprehensive courses are open to anyone over the age of 12 and will be held every weekend in the forested area adjacent to the Elisabeth Church in the Opalikha district.

It says the aim is to establish a permanent team trained in weapons handling, knowledge of military affairs and tactical medicine. The courses will be conducted by experienced instructors with combat experience, including those who have served in the Northern Military District zone (code for the war in Ukraine).

The courses are sponsored by the ROKOT “Shoulder to Shoulder” organization, of which Alexey Naumov, the regional head says: “Future defenders of the Fatherland will master in practice not only military affairs, but also the history of the Moscow region, our Motherland. Now more than ever, it is important to unite our efforts and study well the glorious traditions of our fathers and grandfathers.”

The message enthusiastically lays out the military syllabus with a liberal use of exclamation marks to indicate how exciting the training will be, as in the section entitled “Practical handling of small arms and light weapons (SALW)” it says this includes: !!Medium Machine Guns (MMG)!!

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It says under SALW that students will learn safety precautions, weapons disassembly and assembly, the correct stance for firing the weapons while standing, fire and maneuver within the forest, attack, retreat and defense, map reading, landmine laying and clearance and casualty evacuation.

Training is also given in medical theory, tactical medicine, categorizing casualties, administering first aid, applying tourniquets, actions in the “red zone” on the battlefield, self-treatment.

It is emphasized that the training is conducted with “with the blessing of Archbishop of Odintsovo and Krasnogorsk, head of the Administrative Secretariat of the Moscow Patriarchate of Thomas,” and priests will be in attendance to participate by providing education and guidance on “the history of their native land and patriotism.”

This is not the first instance of the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church (MPROC) organizing military training in support of President Vladimir Putin’s so-called special military operation.

In October Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) reported that the MPROC was creating its own private military companies for the war against Ukraine. An SBU spokesperson said, “It has been documented that one such private military company called St. Andrew’s Cross operates at the Kronstadt Naval Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Within the walls of the religious institution, its representatives are recruiting parishioners for further inclusion in the composition of the occupying groups of the Russian Federation, which are involved in the front line.”

Shortly after the full-scale invasion, the MPROC issued a decree that obliged its priests to pray for victory over Ukraine every day, with refusal to do so leading to the priest being defrocked – a punishment that was carried out on several occasions.

The MPROC Patriarch Kirill has repeatedly justified the invasion and called for daily prayers for President Putin and has told Russian military personnel not to fear death at the front as their sacrifice “washes away all sins.”

At a synod of bishops on May 11, the Orthodox Church of Ukrainian (OCU) officially deemed the so-called “Russky mir” (Russian world) doctrine as a false and essentially heretical religious teaching.

Underneath the Krasnogorsk announcement are exhortations to volunteer for Russia’s Armed Forces and gives information on how attendees can conclude a contract with the Ministry of Defense that will offer “stable, decent pay and social guarantees.” There is currently no information on how many have taken up the offer of training or have subsequently volunteered to fight in Ukraine.