Civilians Evacuated From Historic Monastery in Eastern Ukraine
A group of civilians were evacuated from Sviatohirsk Lavra, a historic Orthodox Christian Monastery in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, on July 16, as Russian shelling in the area continued.
Out of seven people who were evacuated, one was a child that was born just a fews days ago on the Lavra territory, the Ministry of Defense said.
Officials said that the monastery has been “subject to constant artillery fire from the Russian military” which has made creating an evacuation corridor difficult. They added that over 600 civilians were present on the territory days before the evacuation, with 70 percent of them devotees and local residents who were seeking shelter.
“Now all of them are in the territory controlled by Ukraine and are receiving the necessary medical and psychological assistance,” wrote the Defense Ministry on Telegram.
The footage shows a priest walking through the damaged monastery, which was heavily shelled on June 1 and resulted in two deaths and several priests “seriously injured.”
Around 100 priests refused to evacuate, according to the Ukrainian Intelligence Ministry, but were still able to receive aid such as food, water and medicine. Credit: Ministry of Defense Ukraine via Storyful
