Kollyvas,
In what branch of the military did you serve, and in what country?
John Haluska
Photos Of Spetsnaz In Chechnya
The Spetsnatz may be well trained but the current Russian Army is sloppy. They should have brought Chechnya under control years ago. Their is rampant thuggery there as newly conscripted soldiers are beaten up by their superiors (why I don't know) and generally treated horribly. There is also the problem of Russian soliders their selling their weapons to Chechnians for Vodka. Well, ofcourse, now we know where the Rebels are getting their weapons from.
I agree with you that Russian is right. An independent Chechnya would be a nightmare, as would be an independent Albanian Dominated Kosovo, for it would be breeding ground for terrorism and the narcotics trade. However, the Russians are not going to get much sympathy when their own soliders are ill treated, sell their weapons to their enemy for Vodka, and have committed human rights abuses against civilians.
So what Russia is doing there is right, the flaw is in the way they are doing it.
Edward
New Martyred Soldiers For Christ
http://www.serfes.org/lives/NewMartyredSoldiers.htm
New Martyred Soldiers For Christ Our Lord
New Martyr Monk-Soldier Roman & New Martyr Evgeny
Compiled By Archimandrite Nektarios Serfes
Boise, Idaho
USA
Introduction by Archimandrite Nektarios Serfes
In the 20th and 21st centuries we have two known Christ-loving warriors who where soldiers and gave there lives for Christ our God and His Holy Orthodox Church: the New Martyr Monk-Soldier Roman (1971-1994), and the New Martyr Soldier Evgeny (1984-2002). One was a monk, the other a layperson.
In both situations we discover that these warriors for Christ our Lord had faith in Holy Orthodoxy and were both zealous in pursing their salvation. Each New Martyred Soldier for Christ also had other great spiritual qualities such as being joyful in our Savior Jesus Christ.
Being an Orthodox Christian takes a deal of struggle. At the same time, it always comes down to our love for Christ our Lord and His Church -Holy Orthodoxy. Contemporary soldiers can turn to these two Martyred Saints for spiritual inspiration and intercession.
Now let me humbly and briefly share with you the story of these two recent soldier-martyrs for Christ.
Photo of the New Martyr
Soldier Monk Roman The New Martyr Monk-Soldier Roman (1971-1994)
Martyred in Bosina on October 2, 1994
At the age of seventeen Father Roman left the world and joined the first mission to reopen Valaam Russian Orthodox Monastery, located in Valaam, Russia, after it had been desecrated and secularized for fifty years. In his youthful zeal he heeded the call to martyrdom four years later. He was an idealist and a romantic poet - known for his frequent departure from this world into prayer, even to the sometimes-humorous obliviousness of his monastic obediences. He was zealous in his labor for God and his salvation, striving to help his superiors as much as he could. His spirit was joyful and light, but his deep and sober soul heard a call when the Bosnian Moslems and the Catholic Croatians were cruelly and lawlessly killing the Orthodox Serbians. He entered the front lines and was martyred in 1994, on October 2nd, thereby joining the saints of Valaam in heaven. There were quite of few monk saints who, when need arose, would exchange their monastic garb for that of a warrior to save Holy Russia from the onslaught of apostates or pagans. These Christ-loving warriors considered it their duty to follow in the steps of the disciples of St. Sergius of Radonezh, who went to the Kulikovo battlefield and saved Russia.
Source: Excerpts from Valaam Patericon -Book of Days- Valaam Society of America, New Valaam Monastery, Alaska 1999. p. 103.
Photo of the New Martyr Soldier Evegeny The New Martyr Soldier Evgeny of Chechnya (1984-2002)
Canonized on August 20th the day of his martyrdom
When one of our associates was in Moscow last year, just about every parish bookstall had a Xeroxed notice about a young soldier named Evgeny, who had been captured by the Chechnens along with five of his buddies.
The
Photo of the New Martyr Soldier Evegeny
Chechnens promised to spare the young Russians their lives if they converted to Islam. The others agreed, but Evgeny refused, insisting that he was an Orthodox Christian. The Chechnens beheaded him and subsequently sent his severed head to his mother as a sort of memento. This young lad had been recognized everywhere as a (Moscow & environs, Sergiev Posad, Murom, Diveevo, Arzamas) martyr, in a spontaneous, popular movement of piety. His picture was everywhere, usually with the caption "Martyred Soldier Evgeny". He was martyred on his 18th birthday, 6 months after he started his service.
Chechnen field commander Rusland Haihoroev beheaded Evgeny, after Evgeny denied conversion to Islam and refused to give up his cross (which by the way was part of the medal for bravery). Many months his mother searched for his body, and finally after paying $500, was shown the forest where he was buried. She found the bodies of 4 more boys along with his. A giant wooden cross has since been erected on his grave. His own cross, the one that he refused to give up, his mother, Lubov Radionova, has donated to St. Nicholas Church in Ordinka, Moscow.
The New Martyr Evgeny the Soldier was canonized on August 20th. A Church in his name is to be build in Hankala, near Groziniy. It will be the only Orthodox Church in Chechnya.
Source: Orthodox Heritage. The Greek Orthodox Brotherhood of St. Poimen. Florence, Arizona. Volume 01, Issue 1 January 2003 p. 4.
For more information about the martyrdom of St. Evgeny, visit http://english.pravda.ru/society/2003/01/08/41724.html
Holy New Martyr Roman,
Pray to God for us!
Holy New Martyr Evgeny,
Pray to God for us!
Glory Be To God For All Things!
Content written/compiled by Father Nektarios Serfes.
(c)2004 Father Nektarios Serfes
UKRAINIAN Explosives Trafficked In Caucasus
http://prima-news.ru/eng/news/news/2005/11/4/33848.html
Investigation of deliveries to Caucasus of explosives from the Ukraine
UKRAINE, Melitopol, Zaporozhskaya (Our Correspondent)
"On the order of Ukrainian President Victor Yushenko, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine is checking information about deliveries of explosives from the Zaporozhskaya region to the Caucasus ", a correspondent of PRIMA-News was informed on November 3rd by the Ukraine MVD.
Melitopol journalist Vladimir Karachevtsev was attempting to investigate the explosives’ passage through the Azov sea. According to him, couriers transported them to the edge of Krasnodar, where they were given to inhabitants of the Caucasus in exchange for narcotics with. On December 14th, 2003, Karachevtsev perished at home under mysterious circumstances.
There is a large drug trafficking business in Melitopol, worth several million US dollars. The police are connected with explosives suppliers and drug smugglers. The MVD investigators assert that criminal activity in the Zaporozhskaya region is led by the wife of former Chief of Police of the Priazovsky Region, Tamila Gritsu.
Translated by OM Kenney
PRIMA-News Agency [2005-11-03-Ukr-26]
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