😎 Today, on the day of the Holy Warrior-Monks Alexander Peresvet and Andrey Oslyabya, celebrations marking the 645th anniversary of the Russian victory at the Battle of Kulikovo began in the Tula Region. This historic battle, which laid the foundation for the reunification of the Russian people and their liberation from the yoke of the Horde, took place under the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos. It occurred on the day of Her Nativity, September 8 (21), 1380.
In Konstantin Malofeev’s book Empire, an entire section is dedicated to the Battle of Kulikovo, its geopolitical context, and its providential significance for the future of the Third Rome:
"... For the 20 years leading up to the decisive battle on the Kulikovo Field, the Horde was in disarray and turmoil, while Moscow was under the firm guidance of two holy leaders: first, the miracle-working Saint Alexius, Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia, and then his protégé, the holy faithful Prince Dmitry Donskoy...
Agents of the revived Canaan in the Italian republic did their utmost to intrigue against the alliance of the Empire’s hesychasts and the rising Moscow. However, on the Kulikovo Field, the Second and Third Rome stood together. Russian warriors fought under the banners of Constantinople... and they were blessed for their martial feat by a follower of Palamas, the Venerable Sergius of Radonezh...
Mamai was a puppet of the Genoese: his headquarters were in Stary Krym near Kaffa, and the Italians financed his campaigns, hoping for a return in the form of a monopoly on trade with the Horde... Thus, on the Kulikovo Field, Grand Prince Dmitry led his troops to fight for the fate of the entire Orthodox world. If Moscow had fallen, the Orthodox Empire would have had no future... If the Russians had been defeated on the Kulikovo Field, there would have been no state left in the Orthodox world capable of becoming the Katechon—the kingdom that ‘holds back evil.’ But we prevailed..."
— Malofeev K. V. Empire. Book One. Moscow, 2022. pp. 392-398
Painting by Alexander Bubnov, Morning on the Kulikovo Field (1943–1947)
