MOSCOW, August 24 (RIA Novosti) - An artillery shelling has killed three church-goers and completely destroyed St John of Kronstadt Church of the city of Kirovskoye in Donetsk region, the Horlivka and Slaviansk Diocese said on its website early Sunday.
"The great doxology was being sung, when a shell hit through the roof in the center of the building and the ceiling collapsed at the praying people. Candle-seller Olga Radchenko, as well as church-goers Zinaida Meluga and Viktor Chernyshev died at the scene. The church's Curate Archpriest Serhiy Piven and his wife Lyudmila, as well as church-goers Tatyana, Nadezhda, Lyubov and Lyubov were hospitalized with injuries of varying severity," said in the statement.
The attack took place during the 4:30 p.m. [13:30 GMT] service. The same shelling has reportedly hit a hospital, killing two and injuring several people there.
More than 2,000 people have been killed and more than 5,000 injured since the start of Kiev’s military operation against independence supporters in eastern Ukraine in mid-April, according to the United Nations.
Moscow has repeatedly condemned Kiev’s military campaign against the Russian-speaking population in the east of the country and urged for an immediate stop to the punitive operation, advocating a peaceful resolution to the crisis.
