MOSCOW, April 18. /TASS/. The Savior Not Made by Hand icon which in the past belonged to Defense Minister of the Russian Empire Pyotr Vannovsky and whose replicas Russian President Vladimir Putin presented to the military in the special operation zone was purchased from a private collection in the US, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS on Tuesday.

"The icon, replicas of which the president gave to servicemen in the Kherson Region and the Lugansk People’s Republic, were previously purchased from a private collection in the US," the Kremlin official said.

He stressed that the replicas would stay in the Kherson Region and the LPR while Putin would hand the original over to the main cathedral of Russia’s Armed Forces. In the past, this icon belonged to Pyotr Vannovsky who served as Russia’s defense minister in 1881-1898.

Peskov highlighted the special significance of icons in Russian military history and added that the image of Savior Not Made by Hand has been the protective icon of Russian troops over several centuries.

The Savior Not Made by Hand icon is a canonical depiction of the face of Jesus Christ which, according to legend, was miraculously imprinted on a cloth he used to wipe his face. This image was depicted on the banners of the Russian army as well as placed over the gates of fortresses. Soldiers have always considered it their patron while civilians viewed it as their protector and savior.

On Monday, Putin visited the headquarters of the Dnepr battlegroup on the Kherson front and the headquarters of the National Guard East battlegroup in the LPR. During his visit, the head of state heard reports from military commanders on the situation on the Kherson, Zaporozhye and Lugansk fronts. This is the head of state’s first visit to the Kherson Region and the LPR. Previously, Putin visited Russia’s new regions on March 19 when he traveled to Mariupol in the Donetsk People’s Republic.