by Alessandro Pompei –
As a result of conflict between Ukrainians and Russians, about 22 churches in the Kursk region were destroyed, including the Krestovozdvizhensky church, located in the village of Cherkasy-Porechnoye. This event is a real blow to the cultural and religious heritage of the area, as the church, which was built dating back to 1784, is considered an architectural monument of regional importance.
Archpriest Sergiy Klintsov, head of the department for Church-Society Relations in the Kursk diocese, confirmed that the temple was destroyed, saying it was not an isolated case. According to the latest data, other places of worship in the area were damaged or destroyed during the attacks. In particular, the Gornal Nikolaevsky Belogorsk Monastery, known for its spiritual and historical significance, was greatly affected.
Other damaged religious buildings include the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos in the village of Guevo, the churches of Saint Theodosius Chernihiv in the village of Popov-Lekzha, and the Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God in the village of Alekseevka. The Nikolaev and Pokrovsky churches in Gornal Monastery also suffered serious damage.
In a report sent to Patriarch Kirill, the Metropolitan of Kursk and Rylsky, a German, emphasized the destruction of the church of the Ascension in the village of Krasnoktyabrsky, located in the Glushkovsky district.
In total, around 22 churches, including two from Gornal Priory, are located in areas that are currently occupied or occupied, with several religious buildings heavily damaged.
One of the most important concerns is about the fate of Hieromonk Simeon (Borukh), abbot of the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin in the small town of Guevo. Currently the priest is in an area where the enemy is for a short time and there is no communication with him.
All places of worship affected were civilian targets in cities under Ukrainian attack; due to the size of the villages, which rarely exceed thirty houses (in many cases even less), and the absence of strategic objectives, especially in the first phase of the conflict, there is a psychological objective behind of these attacks targeting places of worship, which are often a refuge for the civilian population. Not only do these events represent a great cultural loss, but they also raise serious concerns about the security and future of the region’s religious communities.
