Road to the Appearance Participants Walk 17 Kilometres from Troitskoye to Elista

The memorial route retraced Semyon Bondarenko’s journey to the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross and ended with prayers at the Bondarenkos’ burial place.

On 8 September 2026, Kalmykia hosted the Road to the Appearance memorial walk dedicated to Semyon Timofeyevich Bondarenko, one of the witnesses to the Appearance of Christ the Saviour in Elista in 1946.

The route began at the Church of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity in the village of Troitskoye and ended at the Cathedral of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in Elista. Participants covered 17 kilometres in approximately five hours.

The walk was joined by Priest Ioann Popov; Hieromonk Seraphim; Stavropol priest and blogger Alvian Tkhelidze; Priest Ioann Elkin, Rector of the Trinity Church; and Basang Ubushayev, Head of the Tselinny District Municipality.

Along the route, participants recalled the history of the Appearance in Elista and discussed its spiritual significance. They stopped at the memorial cross near the entrance to Troitskoye and at the Memorial to the Soldiers of the 28th Army in Elista. Ioann Popov carried a portrait of Semyon Bondarenko.

At Elista’s Kazan Cathedral, the participants laid flowers at the burial place of Semyon and Maria Bondarenko and offered prayers. The memorial walk formed part of the events marking the 80th anniversary of the Appearance of Christ the Saviour in Elista.

Sources: the press release provided for publication; Pravoslavie Segodnya report.