Kramatorsk: Orthodox Church Badly Damaged in Strike Ukrainian Officials Blame on Russia
The Church of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist was wrecked as Ukrainian police reported citywide blast casualties; Russian official comment on this strike was not found. Sources: Ukrinform; National Police of Ukraine / Ukrainska Pravda; UNITED24 Media; Outono. Accessed Sep 24, 2026 ET.
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Ukrainian outlets report that on Sep 22, 2026, the Church of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (also called St. John the Baptist) in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region—a Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) parish built in 2004—suffered severe damage to walls, roof, and dome, with metal framing twisted and debris across the grounds. Ukrinform, citing the UOC information department, said it was unclear whether anyone was hurt on church grounds. Local rescuer Bohdan Zuyakov and Ukrainian social posts described a direct hit; those are eyewitness/advocacy characterizations, not third-party forensic findings.
National Police of Ukraine said Russian forces struck Kramatorsk with aerial bombs (police described four FAB-250 bombs with glide kits in one briefing), killing a 58-year-old man and injuring a 53-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman, with dozens of homes and infrastructure damaged. UNITED24 Media, also citing Donetsk regional police, reported one dead and five injured and a higher bomb/drone tally affecting roughly 70 civilian sites—illustrating casualty and weapon-count variance across Ukrainian sources. Attribution of the strike to Russia comes from Ukrainian police, UOC statements, and Ukrainian media; a matching Russian Ministry of Defence claim or denial for this specific Sep 22 incident was not located for this brief.
Sources
Outono: The direct Russian attack on the Church of St. John the Baptist in Kramatorsk, Donetsk (Sep 23, 2026)
https://www.outono.net/lacunza/2026/09/23/the-direct-russian-attack-on-the-church-of-st-john-the-baptist-in-kramatorsk-donetsk/Ukrinform: У Краматорську через російську атаку пошкоджений храм (Sep 22, 2026)
https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-regions/4166892-u-kramatorsku-cerez-rosijsku-ataku-poskodzenij-hram.htmlUkrainska Pravda: Russian bombs hit Kramatorsk, killing one and injuring two (Sep 22, 2026)
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2026/09/22/8054607/National Police of Ukraine: Ворог атакував Краматорськ – одна людина загинула, ще дві дістали поранень (Sep 22, 2026)
https://npu.gov.ua/news/voroh-atakuvav-kramatorsk-odna-liudyna-zahynula-shche-dvi-distaly-poranenUNITED24 Media: Church Heavily Damaged as Russian Bombs Hit Around 70 Civilian Sites in Kramatorsk (Sep 23, 2026)
https://united24media.com/war-in-ukraine/church-heavily-damaged-as-russian-bombs-hit-around-70-civilian-sites-in-kramatorsk-22799
Corrections and updates
- Update, September 24, 2026: Brief prepared from Outono (Sept. 23; the /lacunza/ path redirects to /elentir/), Ukrinform (Sept. 22), the National Police of Ukraine (published Sept. 22), Ukrainska Pravda (Sept. 22), and UNITED24 Media (Sept. 23). Church damage and the unclear injury count on church grounds stay with Ukrinform citing the UOC information department. The direct-hit description stays with the local rescuer and Ukrainian social posts as eyewitness or advocacy characterizations. Police casualty and bomb figures stay with the National Police account carried by Ukrainska Pravda; the one-dead, five-injured, and roughly-70-sites tally stays with UNITED24 Media. Attribution to Russia stays with Ukrainian police, UOC statements, and Ukrainian media. No matching Russian Ministry of Defence claim or denial for this Sep 22 strike was located. Live pages were opened. No prior Wayback snapshots were found. Save Page Now returned 500; archive.today returned 429. No photo.