A major fire broke out at an Orthodox monastery located near the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) town of Svyatogorsk on Saturday. The town is controlled by the Ukrainian military and intense fighting has been reported from the area over the past few days.
Footage from the scene circulating shows the Skete of All Saints engulfed in flames. The sprawling wooden structure was constructed in the late 2000s at the site of the former All Saints Church, which had been destroyed during the Soviet era.
It was not immediately clear what caused the fire, but Moscow and Kiev have already pointed the finger at each other. A Ukrainian officer with the 95th Airborne Assault Brigade, Yuri Kochevenko, posted a picture of the burning skete on Facebook, branding the fire a “crime” committed by “Russian barbarians.”
The Russian military, however, pinned the blame for the blaze at the monastery on the Ukrainian troops. Before retreating from the site, Ukrainian nationalists and units with the 79th Airborne Assault Brigade deliberately fired incendiary rounds at the skete, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement, citing eyewitnesses.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has officially been sworn into office for a fifth term. In…
Moscow will retaliate against British targets in Ukraine or elsewhere if Kiev uses UK-provided missiles…
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky cannot enlist God in Kiev’s fight against Moscow, the Russian Orthodox…
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has proclaimed that God is an “ally” of Ukraine in the…
Israel is willing to pause its military offensive in Gaza if Hamas releases all the…
The EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, has admitted that not every member state agrees to…