Moscow priest said in Evgeny Rodionov’s memory: “We know that he had to go through horrible, long-lasting sufferings that could be compared to the ones of great martyrs in ancient times. They were beheaded, dismembered, but they nevertheless remained devoted to Jesus Christ”.

Evgeny Rodionov was born on the 23rd of May 1977. He was baptized in childhood. In 1995 Evgeny was called up to serve in the army. Evgeny was allocated to the Border Guards in the Russian republic of Chechnya. On the night of the 13th of January 1996, Evgeny and some other young soldiers were posted, unarmed, to a checkpoint. Evgeny was captivated by Chechen terrorists for three and a half months. The Chechens demanded him to remove the cross from his neck, to deny his Christian faith and to agree to become a Muslim in order to stay alive. Evgeny refused to renounce his faith. Finally, on his 19th birthday, May the 23rd 1996 (new style), he was beheaded. He proved that Russian Orthodoxy is still alive and that today, after many years of atheism, Russia still has the potential to give martyrs for Christ.