Russian forces have destroyed another Ukrainian Greek Catholic church, while a priest at a separate parish is removing sacred items ahead of an expected Russian attack. Source: OSV News.
On August 11, a Russian rocket struck the Church of the Holy Martyr Cyprian and the Martyr Justina in Antonivka, located in Ukraine’s Kherson region.
News of the strike, which took place on a Sunday, was reported by the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church on its information website that same day. The UGCC did not specify if there had been casualties.
Images shared by the UGCC showed the severely damaged remains of the Antonivka church amid rubble. Windows and doors had been blown out, with structural framing warped and twisted.
The UGCC noted that the Antonivka church had also been struck on August 9 by a Russian drone. Parishioners and area residents had managed to extinguish the resulting flames.
The parish, formed in 2005, originally worshipped in a residence, moving in 2012 to a private chapel in the rectory of Fer Igor Makar.
The church had been newly built shortly thereafter, and was consecrated in May 2014 by Bishop Mykhaylo Bubniy.
In Myrnohrad, a city in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, a priest and a volunteer worked on August 11 to save sacred objects and art at the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, as Russian forces have shelled the area.
Fr Ivan Vasylenko posted several videos and photos of the effort to his Facebook page, noting that “parishioners (have) all left the city.”
“We consecrated, prayed. … Today, people hugged, cried and already left,” said the priest, who urged Myrnohrad residents seeking shelter to contact the Jesuit Refugee Service.
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Russian forces destroy Catholic church in Ukraine (By Gina Christian, OSV News)
