On Easter, April 16, Western journalists showed how the residents of the village of Lukashivka in the Chernihiv region were forced to consecrate Easter bread in a ruined church.
This was reported by Channel 24.
The Church of the Ascension of the Lord of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine was almost completely destroyed by the Russians, but this did not prevent the people and the priest from conducting the Liturgy. In the photos that are now actively circulating on the network, it can be seen how Father Sergiy Zezul blesses the baskets of believers near the shrine.
At the same time, it should be noted that the church lacks a bathhouse, and its walls have hundreds of traces of shell hits. Part of the roof also collapsed, and inside - the church was practically completely burned down. As journalist Vasyl Chepurnyi reported to RISU, the only surviving icon inside the church is the icon of Chernihiv saints Prince Michael and boyar Theodore.
The village of Lukashivka in the Chernihiv region was under Russian occupation for 21 days before the counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the spring of 2022. In addition, the Church of the Ascension of the Lord is an architectural monument of the early 20th century.