Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian forces have destroyed or damaged 113 churches across the country.
This was announced by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in a video address on the 101st day of the war, Suspilne reports.
According to the president, among the religious sites that came under Russian attacks are ancient ones that survived World War 2 but failed to withstand Russian occupation.
“There are those that were built after 1991. They are ready to burn anything: Orthodox churches, just like anything else in Ukraine,” the head of state said.
He also said that on June 4, as a result of Russian artillery shelling, the All Saints Monastery in the Sviatohirsk Lavra, Donetsk region, which was rebuilt in 2001, got burned down to the ground. As a result of shelling, three monks were killed and priests were forced to serve in the basement.
“This is one of the three Lavras of Ukraine. This is the Lavra of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which is still considered in Moscow to be connected with the Russian Orthodox Church. Even this does not stop the Russian army,” Zelensky said.
He noted that the Russian side was predictable in accusing the Ukrainians of the strike.
“Although the monks and laity in Sviatohirsk saw perfectly well that it was Russian artillery,” the president said.
It should be recalled that on June 4, the occupiers fired at Sviatohirsk Lavra. Monks killed by the occupiers were also buried in the Sviatohirsk Lavra of the UOC-MP. As reported, the UOC-MP “blessed” the occupation forces but the Russians destroy their churches and kill their clergymen anyway.
