The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, said that the Russians had struck the Laure of Sviatohirsk, destroying a wooden church. Hundreds of civilians are refugees in this famous monastery.
Le Monde with AFP
The Laure of the Dormition-de-la-Mère-de-Dieu de Sviatohirsk is considered to be one of the three most sacred sites in Ukraine for Orthodox believers. This famous monastery, which before the war attracted several thousand pilgrims each year, is now at the heart of the fighting area in eastern Ukraine. It was again touched by a strike that destroyed a wooden church on Saturday June 4.
“Russian artillery again struck the Laure of Sviatohirsk”, in the Donetsk region, wrote the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, on Telegram, publishing a video of the hermitage (Skite) All the saints on fire.
@christopherjm @heidiphotos @siobhan_ogrady @PaULSonne @nastyagouchka there’s now a video and photo showing the n… https://t.co/zgm4ej16gm
refugee civilians in the monastery
He recalled that the monastery had already been affected this week by Russian bombing “having killed four monks and seriously injured four others”. According to him, Laure also houses three hundred civilians, including sixty children, who take refuge in trying to escape the bombings.
The skite “had been destroyed for the first time in the Soviet era. Subsequently, he was rebuilt. And now he was burnt down by the Russian army,” insurgiated the president, calling To exclude Russia, a “barbaric” country, from UNESCO.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said that its units deployed north of Sviatohirsk led “no fights” in this region and accused Ukrainian troops of “having set fire” on the site.
The Moscow branch of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine which manages this monastery had previously announced that the fire in the skite had declared itself to the “continuation of hostilities”. “There is no immediate information on the victims,” said this Church, which has just broken with Russia.