With "Z" on their shirts, war veterans enter new Spiritual Sport Centre in Murmansk
The so-called Spiritual Rehabilitation Sport Centre is built on the initiative of Russian Orthodox hardline Metropolitan Mitrofan and reportedly offers soldiers from the war of aggression against Ukraine 'spiritual and physical recovery.'
Leading dignitaries and state officials from the Russian Arctic region on 23 February arrived to the official opening of the so-called Spiritual Rehabilitation Sport Centre.
It is located on a hill overlooking downtown Murmansk and the Kola Bay and is built on the initiative of Metropolitan Mitrofan, the top regional clergyman who ardently preaches war, annexation of Ukraine and fight against anti-Christ and the West.
Not surprisingly, the new centre was officially opened on Russia's 'Day of the Defenders of the Fatherland.'
"The ones that risk their own lives and health - the real protectors of the fatherland - can regain spiritual and physical strength in the centre," Mitrofan said at the opening event.
"I am confident that the combination of the spiritual force of the church, prayers and wise words from priests, and physical rehabilitation, will give excellent benefits," the prelate continued and underlined that "there has never before been such a level of interaction between the church and state."
Photos from the centre show men training in t-shirts with a logo resembling the "Z," Russia's symbol of its war against Ukraine.
The centre is developed by the Russian Orthodox Church in cooperation with the regional government in Murmansk and mining and metallurgy company Nornickel.
It is believed to have cost at least 300 million rubles (€3,31 million)
The three-floor building includes several sport halls including facilities for regular workout, boxing, martial arts and table tennis, as well as space for physiotherapy, massage and a conference hall.
The complex also includes a small church.
"We pray to God for the strength, faith and health of our warriors and veterans of the special military operation," Murmansk Governor Andrei Chibis said in an address at the ceremony.
"They deserve this, and we are proud of them. It is a great honour to support them, to help them," the regional leader added.
During his visit, Chibis also signed a new cooperation with Metropolitan Mitrofan and the Orthodox Church.
Metropolitan Mitrofan is the highest ranked clergy man in the Kola Peninsula and a powerful prelate in Russian Orthodox church hierarchy. Before he entered a theological institute in 1999, he had worked for two decades in the Northern Fleet. He served as captain of several major naval vessels and even graduated from the Kuznetsov Naval Academy in St. Petersburg.
Mitrofan is one of many Russian Orthodox Church leaders that today promotes militarisation of Russian society. He heads the Russian Orthodox Church Commission on Physical Culture and Sports, and actively seek to integrate patriotism and so-called “traditional values” in sports.
Just days before the opening of the centre in Murmansk, Mitrofan was in Moscow where he attended a church-sponsored bandy tournament for kids. The event took place on the Red Square and photos from the event show the prelate together with kids holding the flags of occupied Ukrainian regions and late Yevgeny Prigozhin's Wagner Group.
