On the day of the finding of the relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov, Aerospace Forces Day, August 1, 2026, Metropolitan Kirill of Stavropol and Nevinnomyssk, Chairman of the Synodal Department for Cooperation with the Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies, head of the Synodal Committee for Cooperation with the Cossacks, celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Church of the Ascension of the Lord outside the Serpukhov Gates of Moscow, the main church of thespace forces.
His Eminence was accompanied by Archpriest Konstantin Tatarintsev, Deputy Chairman of the Synodal Department for Interaction with the Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies, head of the sector for interaction with the Aerospace Forces, rector of the Church of the Ascension of the Lord outside Serpukhov Gates, Priest Timofey Chaikin, Executive Secretary of the Synodal Committee for Interaction with the Cossacks, and military clergy.
Military personnel of the Russian Aerospace Forces, veterans and parishioners of the church prayed during the service.
Vladyka Kirill offered a special prayer for the health and salvation of the soldiers protecting the air borders of the Fatherland.
At the end of the Liturgy, a solemn military formation took place on the temple grounds.
Metropolitan Kirill addressed the personnel with a pastoral address, congratulating the soldiers on their professional holiday. His Eminence stressed that serving in the military forces of the Russian Aerospace Forces requires not only impeccable professional training, but also a firm spiritual core, because it is on the shoulders of the soldiers of the Russian Aerospace Forces that the enormous responsibility for the peaceful life of the country lies today.