A Drive to Turn a Soldier Into a Saint

Tuesday, October 19, 2004. Page 1.

Vladimir Filonov / MT Marchers carrying an icon of murdered soldier Yevgeny Rodionov at a rally against terrorism near Red Square on Sept. 7. KURILOVO, Moscow Region -- As Lyubov Rodionova flicks through her pictures, all showing the same young man in uniform, it becomes obvious these are not just family snaps. In one picture, his rifle is over his shoulder, in another it is in his hand, in a third he looks straight ahead with just a glimpse of a soldier's blue and white T-shirt -- but all have the same golden halo around his head. This is her son Yevgeny. The 19-year-old was murdered in Chechnya in 1996, but his legend lives on, and many Russians are pressing the Russian Orthodox Church to canonize him as a saint, martyred in a holy war against Islam. "Not only did Yevgeny not betray his faith, he also refused to betray his army. He refused to sell out his friends," said Rodionova, who lives alone in this town outside Moscow. He was kidnapped and held in a cellar for months. Rodionova said his captors had told her they gave him the choice of adopting Islam and joining them, or death. He refused to relinquish his Christian faith and was beheaded and buried in an unmarked grave. Yevgeny is one of thousands of soldiers killed in Chechnya, but his bravery and religious faith under pressure has inspired many Russians tired of the war.

At least 26 churches from Siberia to the Ukrainian border now have an icon of the handsome, dark-haired young man, who was a conscript in the border guards before his death.

Several marchers held his icon aloft in a rally against terror near Red Square on Sept. 7, shortly after the Beslan school tragedy.

"Yevgeny is famous. He is a bright example. Maybe it is because of his youth, and he reminds people of David and Goliath," said Orthodox priest Father Dmitry, the head of the Moscow Patriarchate's department for the armed forces.

"This was a Christian death," he said.

He said the church had not yet decided to go ahead with canonization.

Father Dmitry said the war against the kind of Islamic extremists who seized the Beslan school was religious.

"If we do not fight, then they will take us, and that will be the end of Eastern Christianity," he said.

Other organizations have adopted Yevgeny. He has his own web site, www.rodionoff.ru, and is praised as a role model by the Russian branch of the Boy Scouts.

For Father Dmitry, the public love for this soldier shows Russians' remarkable return to the religion of their fathers after the collapse of the Soviet Union, which demolished thousands of churches and encouraged atheism.

He pointed to recently published figures showing the number of monks and nuns had risen 26 times in the last decade.

For Rodionova -- who often calls herself simply "Yevgeny Rodionov's mom" -- people's faith in her son shows a more disturbing side of Russia, reflecting public amazement that a soldier treated so badly by his army should have held firm.

Conscripts are routinely beaten, and border guards like Yevgeny receive only 100 rubles ($3.30) per month.

During the early years of the Chechen war, thousands of conscripts were slaughtered in battles against seasoned rebel forces. Activist groups say officers frequently sold weapons to the rebels and even rented out their troops as labor.

Rodionova said that when Yevgeny was kidnapped, his officers told her he had deserted. After she went to Chechnya to look for him, they refused to help or pay a ransom to secure his release. She was paid the equivalent of $170 in compensation for his death.

She hunted for her son for nine months, narrowly avoiding death in places where soldiers feared to go, eventually learning how he had died and identifying her decapitated son through a cross he always wore.

"His officers sold him out, the government sold him out. But he, he never sold anyone out. That is why people respect him," she said, blinking back tears and wrapping her shawl more tightly around her shoulders.

Since his death, she has devoted her life to helping conscripts in Chechnya, and has made 28 trips to take them food. She packed boxes for another trip when interviewed.

She has met many rebel leaders and was beaten by Shamil Basayev -- the warlord who claimed responsibility for the Beslan seizure -- but refused to lay all the blame on them for the death of her only child.

"If you ask me who I hate more, then I will say I don't know. Those are not Allah's warriors. They are animals. But I blame the officers and the government just as much."

And although she said she would not oppose it, her son's canonization was not important to her.

"What do I care what the church says? Can it make him walk back though that door? Can it bring me grandsons? In Chechnya, the boys love their soldier-saint, and that is enough for me."

Source

www.OttawaMensCentre.com