A burning wooden monastery in Donetsk, Ukraine and Russia are exchanging accusations

The wooden monastery of All Saints in Donetsk, built in 1912, was engulfed in flames due to the war that is taking place in that area. Ukraine accuses Russian forces of shooting at the monastery, while the Russian Ministry of Defense claims that the monastery was set on fire by Ukrainian fighters during the withdrawal.

The Embassy of Ukraine in Belgrade announced that a wooden monastery hermitage of All Saints of the Holy Orthodox Lavra of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Moscow Patriarchate (UPC MP), a cultural monument built in 1912, which survived two world wars and the invasion of Nazi Germany, is burning in the Donetsk region.

The Embassy adds that the UPC MP confirmed that the monastery was attacked by Russian forces and that the flames completely engulfed the main temple of the monastery.

“Nothing is sacred to Putin’s hordes, which are destroying Orthodox shrines. “Nothing is strange, considering that the Russian dictator in the godless Soviet Union, about which he still dreams, worked for the KGB and persecuted the church,” the embassy said in a statement.

The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that the monastery was set on fire by Ukrainian fighters retreating from Svyatogorsk, and that after the arson, they headed south at high speed, towards the settlement of Sidorovo, which is controlled by Ukrainian troops, reports TASS.

The Ministry adds that a large-caliber projectile was fired at the monastery from a machine gun mounted on the Ukrainian armored car “Kozak”.

Russia claims that its units located north of Svyatogorsk do not carry out combat operations in this area and do not shell “the territory of the Svyatogorsk Historical and Architectural Reserve”.

The Embassy of Ukraine claims that Russia shot at the laurel in Svyatogorsk on June 1, when two monks and nuns were killed and five people were seriously injured. One of the seriously injured later died.

Zelenski: There are also children who escaped the war in the monastery

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, said that the target of the Russian bombing in the east of the country was a wooden church within the well-known Orthodox monastery complex.

“Russian artillery struck the Holy Dormition Lavra again today,” in the Donetsk area, Zelenski wrote on the Telegram, where he posted a video of the burning All Saints’ Hermitage.

Zelenski said that the monastery had already been hit by Russian bombing this week, and that four monks were killed and four were seriously injured.

According to him, there are about 300 civilians in the laurel, including 60 children sheltered from the bombing.

Zelenski called on UNESCO to exclude Russia from its membership.

The monastery is considered one of the three holiest places in Ukraine for Orthodox believers. Before the war, the monastery was visited by thousands of believers during the year.

Read all about today’s events in Ukraine in our live blog and on the page War in Ukraine.