Kharkiv Region. Russian shelling damages church of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine

On November 28, 2024, one of the churches of the Kharkiv District Deanery of the Kharkiv Eparchy of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine – the St. Volodymyr Church at the Slobozhansky Memorial Complex – was damaged as a result of an air strike.

This was reported by the Kharkiv Eparchy of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

In the middle of the day, a shell fired from Russian territory arrived and exploded in the cemetery. Several graves were destroyed at the impact site, dozens of tombstones nearby were damaged. A crater more than 5 meters wide and 2 meters deep formed in the ground.

Law enforcement officers who inspected the scene of the incident stated that a guided aerial bomb had arrived.

The church building was damaged by a blast wave and shrapnel. The facade, roof, windows and internal equipment of the church were damaged.

The senior priest of the temple, Archpriest Dmitry Shapovalov, emphasizes that there are no military facilities in or near the memorial complex. “This is not the first time the temple has suffered from the Russians. During February-September 2022, there was practically a line of contact here, the nearest shell fell ten meters from the temple. Then there were also attacks, but not on the territory of the complex itself. I don’t remember anything so powerful. The main thing is that there are no victims, because there were people in the cemetery at that time, at least ten. They heard a whistle and managed to fall to the ground. No one was injured. Thank God,” the priest said.