Memory facing the skytranslated

With the blessing of Metropolitan John of Belgorod and Stary Oskol, “As long as we remember, they are alive!” These words are written on a poster that is installed in the 45th quarter of the military cemetery. And this is not just a memorial inscription. For a Russian Orthodox person, memory is not only grief and not only gratitude for past days and good deeds. This is, first of all, prayer. The Church teaches: with the Lord everyone is alive, and our prayers for the departed are the thread that connects Heaven and earth, the debt of love that we can pay to departed loved ones. And the chapel in the name of the holy martyr John the Warrior, erected at the city cemetery in memory of the soldiers who died during the Northern Military District, is not just an architectural object. This is the place where memory ceases to be abstract and takes on form. October 9 became a landmark for the chapel: it was crowned with a dome and a cross. At the foot of the chapel is the grave of Vladimir Seleznev. On the monument there is a photo: a handsome guy with a bright, piercing gaze. And his mother, Lyubov Devyashina, has the same piercing gaze. Volodya died in August 2024 in the DPR in a heavy battle.

He defended his comrades until his last breath and was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage. At the grave of her son, a woman spends...