Donetsk Bishop Says 50 Kilometers From Front Is Unsafe as War Destroys Churches
Updated
Updated · Aid to the Church in Need · Aug 24
Donetsk Bishop Says 50 Kilometers From Front Is Unsafe as War Destroys Churches
1 articles · Updated · Aid to the Church in Need · Aug 24
Summary
50 kilometers from the front is now “extremely dangerous,” Bishop Maksym Ryabukha said, describing how drones and guided bombs have widened the war zone across his Donetsk exarchate.
Half of the exarchate remains under Russian occupation, and Ryabukha said destruction has intensified: rectories are being razed and a church in Kostantynivka has been reduced to rubble, with only part of its dome cross still visible.
46-year-old Ryabukha said he now serves mainly through prayer, dialogue and pastoral presence, while priests refuse evacuation so they can keep conducting funerals, hearing confessions and visiting the sick.
60 youths joined a facilitator training course, parishes ran about 15 summer camps, and priests use their own cars to gather up to 80 women for weekly prayer meetings despite transport dangers.
19 seminarians are currently preparing for the priesthood, which Ryabukha cited as evidence that the war, while devastating, is also driving people toward faith, meaning and what he called “constant signs of hope.”