ANTONIVKA, Ukraine — Russian forces have destroyed a Ukrainian Greek Catholic church, while a priest at a separate parish is hastening to remove sacred items ahead of an expected Russian attack. On Aug. 11, a Russian rocket leveled the Church of the Holy Martyr Cyprian and the Martyr Justina in Antonivka, located in Ukraine’s Kherson region. News of the strike was reported by the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The UGCC did not specify if there had been casualties. Images shared by the UGCC showed the severely damaged remains of the Antonivka church amid rubble. In Myrnohrad, a city in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, a priest and volunteers worked Aug. 11 to save sacred objects and art at the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, as Russian forces have shelled the area. Father Ivan Vasylenko posted several videos and photos of the effort to his Facebook page, noting that “parishioners (have) all left the city” as he and a volunteer worked to remove icons, vessels and other consecrated items from the church as Russian forces advanced. (OSV News)
