A senior cleric and three others were injured in the attack during a service in Donbass Published 23 Aug, 2026 23:25 | Updated 24 Aug, 2026 05:15 FILE PHOTO: Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. © Ilya Pitalev/Sputnik The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, has condemned a Ukrainian drone strike on a church during a service in Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic. The attack occurred on Sunday at the Epiphany Cathedral in Gorlovka, according to a statement on the Moscow Patriarchate’s website. Metropolitan Mitrofan of Gorlovka and Slavyansk was wounded and treated at the hospital, the local diocese said. Protodeacon Roman Stepin and two volunteers with the Patriarchal Humanitarian Mission suffered minor injuries. “An enemy drone attacked people during prayer, once again demonstrating the lack of principle and flagrant cynicism of those who directed this criminal attack,” Kirill said. Read more On the same day, a civilian was injured in a separate Ukrainian drone attack on Gorlovka’s Central City district, Mayor Ivan Prikhodko said on Telegram. Ukraine has intensified its deep-strike campaign in Russia in recent months amid battlefield setbacks. Moscow has described the strikes as acts of terrorism, pointing to drones and missiles hitting apartment blocks and other civilian targets. Russia has said it is retaliating with missile and drone strikes against Ukrainian weapons factories, logistics centers, and infrastructure supporting the military. Last week, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Russia will “respond proportionately to emerging threats” from Ukraine.
