Russian missiles destroy church in Zaporizhzhia region

Around 02:30 a.m., April 16, 2023, Russian troops fired the S-300 missiles at the Zaporizhzhia region’s Kushuhum community.

A church dated back to 1906 was destroyed, as well as a central library and a prayer house, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

“Last night Russians struck Komyshuvakha with the S-300 missiles. One of them hit the church. It is the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of St. Michael the Archangel, our central church in the village of Komyshuvakha. Thanks to God and the common sense of our clergy, at that time there were no service and no Easter food blessing in the church, because it is usually very crowded here,” the head of the community, Yurii Karapetian, said.

Additionally, a central library and a building of another religious institution were damaged in the village.

According to senior priest Volodymyr, the first holiday service has been scheduled for 05:00 a.m. this morning.

“There was an instruction not to hold night services due to the threat of the missile attack. We were planning to hold the service and bless Easter food at 05:00 a.m. Around 02:30 a.m., we heard an explosion. All services have been postponed, and we are dismantling the rubble,” senior priest Volodymyr told.

In his words, prior to the Russian full-scale invasion, there were 13,000 local residents in the community. About 8,000 people are remaining there now.

According to the preliminary data, one person was injured in Russia’s overnight attack and is now in hospital.

Photo: Olha Zvonariova