Some observations concerning the martyrdom of monasticsin Kievan Rus

The phenomenon of Christian martyrdom in medieval Russia has been consideredby a number of scholars. The importance of the struggle of the first martyrs andwitnesses for the faith among the Eastern Christians cannot be overstated. Howevertheir witness for the faith in light of the social and religious situation in medievalRussian had an interesting peculiarity: often the persecutors were also Christian.The author of this article undertakes a preliminary analysis of these peculiarities inthe context of the first decades of Russian Christianity.