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| Patriarch Kirill says churches are being targeted by Ukrainian Armed Forces near Kursk | |
| 2024-08-08 | |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [Regnum] The Ukrainian Armed Forces are launching targeted strikes against churches and monasteries in the Kursk region. This statement was made by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia on August 7 in an address in connection with the situation in the region, the document was posted on the website of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC).
"It is especially bitter that there were targeted attacks on churches and monasteries of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Gornalsky Nikolaevsky Belogorsky Monastery was severely damaged by the shelling, and the brethren were forced to leave it," the Patriarch said. The rector of the Russian Orthodox Church noted the courage and heroism of ordinary citizens who strive to help each other in difficult circumstances. The Patriarch expressed gratitude to the priests and monks who sheltered civilians, including children, women and the elderly, from shelling in the Holy Trinity Church of Sudzha and then organized their evacuation. “I pray fervently for you, dear brothers and sisters!” added Patriarch Kirill. Earlier, Regnum news agency reported that in Kursk Oblast, two churches were destroyed in the Goralsky St. Nicholas Monastery as a result of shelling by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. As the monastery's abbot, Hegumen Pitirim, specified, the Ukrainian Armed Forces deliberately targeted the churches. As a result of the shelling, the monastery's main cathedral was destroyed and burned, and the fraternal and temple buildings were damaged. Towards evening, a fire broke out in the Pokrovsky Church, it burned out completely, leaving only the walls. The abbot noted that there were no casualties, and all people were in shelters. As reported by the Defense Ministry on the morning of August 6, after a fire preparation, up to 300 Ukrainian army fighters, supported by 11 tanks and more than 20 armored vehicles, attacked the positions of the units covering the Russian state border near the villages of Nikolayevo-Daryino and Oleshnya in the Kursk region. Russian aviation struck concentrations of personnel and military equipment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. As a result, 16 units of armored vehicles of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were destroyed, including six tanks, two infantry fighting vehicles, four armored personnel carriers, three Kozak armored vehicles and an engineering vehicle for obstacle clearance. The Ukrainian Armed Forces made a second attempt to break through in the evening of the same day. In addition, the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched a series of strikes on peaceful neighborhoods in populated areas of the Kursk region. The Ukrainian army deliberately attacked people who were trying to leave the border areas. Acting Governor of Kursk Oblast Alexey Smirnov noted that Russian troops thwarted an attempt by the Ukrainian Armed Forces to break through the state border into Kursk Oblast in Sudzhansky and Korenevsky districts. | |
| Posted by:badanov |