Russians Destroy UGCC Church in Kherson Region
On Sunday, August 11, 2024, Russian forces destroyed the Church of the Holy Martyr Cyprian and Martyr Justina in the village of Antonivka, Kherson region, with a missile strike.
According to the parish priest, Ihor Makar, the destroyed church was the first to be built on the territory of the Odesa Exarchate, which was separated from the Odesa-Crimea Exarchate in 2014. It was situated just 300 meters from the Dnipro River and, accordingly, on the front line.
Today’s destruction was the second attempt by the occupiers to destroy the church. On Friday, August 9, a drone strike caused a fire, but local residents and parishioners managed to extinguish it and save the shrine.
According to the press service of the Odesa Exarchate, the parish of the Holy Martyr Cyprian and Martyr Justina in Antonivka, Kherson Oblast, was founded in 2005, with the first Divine Liturgy celebrated by Fr. Ihor Makar on October 19, 2005, according to the press service of the Odesa Exarchate.
Initially, services were held in a private house. In 2012, a chapel was set up in the priest’s room and residence. During his pastoral visit to Odesa on May 17, 2014, Exarch Mykhailo Bubniy consecrated the newly built chapel for the Greek Catholic community.
The Church of the Holy Martyr Cyprian and the Martyr Justina before the destruction
The UGCC Department for Information
