MOSCOW, August 18. /TASS/. A damaged slab of Dmitry Donskoy’s sarcophagus has granted access to his relics during restoration work in the Cathedral of the Archangel in the Moscow Kremlin, a source in the Russian Orthodox Church has told TASS.

"During the visual inspection, specialists saw that the lid of the sarcophagus belonging to Holy Right-Believing Grand Prince Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy had two transverse cracks, and the middle section was at risk of collapsing inside the sarcophagus, which would have resulted in damage or destruction of the holy relics," the source said.

"Museum curators received the blessing of Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill to carry out emergency stabilization and restoration works," he added.