Metropolitan Agathangel, the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (ROCA), has just posted the following:
"On Forgiveness Sunday, March 6, 2022, at 20:30 pm, Putin's troops shelled the city of Malin in the Zhytomyr region in Ukraine. Our Church of the Protection came under fire. The temple received significant damage - the roof was destroyed, the domes were damaged, frames, glass, and doors were broken. Inside, the iconostasis was demolished by a blast wave, etc. Only the walls remained of the temple. Rector Archpriest Georgy Storozhitsky, his mother Zinaida and one of the parishioners at that time were in the basement, where windows and doors were also torn out. Thank God, everyone survived. The military offer everyone to leave, as heavy fighting is expected in Malin."
Like the Fathers of Saint Edward Brotherhood, Metropolitan Agathangel opposed the union between the Russian Church Abroad and the Russian State Church (Moscow Patriarchate) in 2007. In this union, the free part of the Russian Church that was outside Russia submitted to the Patriarchate and now commemorates the Patriarch of Moscow in their services.
It's not clear whether this church was targeted deliberately because of Metropolitan Agathangel's opposition to the actions of President Putin, or was hit as part of a general shelling of the town.
Please pray for Metropolitan Agathangel and his flock and especially the sisters of the Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco Convent, Odessa as the shelling and missiles edge closer to them.
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