In the village of Hryshyne, located in the Pokrovsk District of the Donetsk Region, the Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin was destroyed by fire due to Russian shelling.
This was reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing the press service of the Pokrovsk Vicariate.
A fire broke out following strikes on the night of October 27. Preliminary reports indicate that there were no casualties.
The church in Hryshyne, built in 1804, is recognized as the oldest church in the Pokrovsk district. Its history dates back to the Cossack era, when Hryshyne emerged as one of the winter quarters of the Samara Palanka (a fortified settlement) at the end of the 16th century.
The church is considered an architectural monument of national importance. During the Soviet period, it was closed and converted into a grain storage facility, only to be restored in the late 1980s. In 2005, the church was consecrated by Metropolitan Hilarion of Donetsk and Mariupol.
Originally part of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, this church had been targeted by Russian shelling on more than one occasion.