Russia attacked two Orthodox Christian churches in Ukraine on Good Friday

Vladimir Putin's dictatorship continues its strategy of attacks against Christian religious buildings in Ukraine.

A Russian attack sets fire to a historic Catholic monastery in Lviv, Ukraine
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These attacks have not ceased during Holy Week. The Orthodox Church of Ukraine celebrates Holy Week on the same days as the Catholic Church, after abandoning the Julian calendar and adopting the Gregorian calendar following the start of the large-scale Russian invasion in 2022. This Good Friday, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine reported two serious attacks against its churches, one of which was partially destroyed, while the other suffered serious damage.

The Cathedral of the Intercession of Saint Nicholas of Druzhkivka

The more serious of the two Russian attacks was directed against the Cathedral of the Intercession of St. Nicholas in Druzhkivka, Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine, a temple from 1900 that was desecrated by the Soviet communist dictatorship and damaged during World War II.

The temple was later restored. It reopened as a Christian church in 1988, during the period of openness that led to the collapse of the USSR three years later.

On the morning of April 3, Good Friday, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine reported that the Cathedral had been attacked by Russians that night and was partially destroyed.

The attack destroyed part of the sanctuary's roof, shattered windows, and damaged the interior and grounds of the temple. You can see here the photos of the damage published by the Orthodox Church of Ukraine on its website.

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Greek-Sophia Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Kherson

On Good Friday afternoon, The Orthodox Church of Ukraine reported a new Russian attack against one of its temples, the second on that same day, during a Russian bombing of the city of Kherson in southern Ukraine.

This time the temple attacked was the Greek-Sophia Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Kherson. It was built in the 1780s in the Greek Square of that city and was consecrated to the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in 1808.

During the German occupation in World War II, the abbot of this church, Ozhigovsky Seraphim, gave refuge to 15 wounded Soviet soldiers (many captured Soviet soldiers were sent to extermination camps by the nazis).

This church was already damaged in a Russian attack on July 18, 2025. At that time, the bombing caused a fire on the church grounds, the wooden cells were completely burned down and in the building next to the church, the windows were broken, the walls were charred, and the roof suffered considerable damage, according to a statement from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church published by Mezha.net.

In this latest attack, a Russian projectile struck the roof of the church. According to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the wife of the church's rector, Archpriest Vitaliy Malaniy, Anna Mykhailivna, was injured during the attack.

Furthermore, as a result of a direct impact, the chapel in honor of the apostles Constantine and Helen was destroyed, the central dome was damaged, and the iconostasis of the high altar suffered partial damage.

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A year ago, the Ukrainian government reported that Russia had already attacked 596 Christian buildings in Ukraine. The majority of the attacked buildings (396) were Orthodox Christian, of which 338 belonged to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate and 58 to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. In addition, 24 Catholic buildings and 176 Protestant buildings were attacked. So far, the most recent of these attacks took place on March 24, when a Russian attack set fire to a historic Catholic monastery in Lviv, the Bernardine Monastery of Lviv, belonging to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.