UOC details death of priest's family in Oleksandro-Kalynove

Archpriest Volodymyr Shutov with parishioners. Photo: the Horlivka Eparchy's website

The press service of the Pokrovsk Vicariate published testimonies of the death of the rector of the Church of the Royal Passion-Bearers in the village of Oleksandro-Kalynove, Archpriest Volodymyr Shutov.

As Archpriest Andriy Chicherynda reported, on September 7, 2025, during the evacuation from the shelling zone, the priest, his wife, and the church duty officer with his eight-year-old daughter were killed. According to him, since May 2025, the priest's family remained at the church, where there was no electricity or other utilities. The community lived in the lower part of the church, where Father Volodymyr had prepared water and food supplies. Despite the difficult conditions, prosphoras were regularly baked in the church, and statutory services were conducted.

On the eve of the tragedy, on September 6, the couple partook of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.

On September 7, the community split into two groups and decided to leave the shelling zone. Father Volodymyr, Matushka Svitlana, their son Oleksiy, and the church duty officer with his eight-year-old daughter only managed to reach the cemetery located near the church, where they perished.

According to the priest's daughter, Kateryna, her mother died immediately, while her father suffered for a long time.

Her brother Oleksiy, who was injured, lay next to the deceased for six hours and then managed to return to the church.

"In my father's dying groans, there were no curses or condemnation," Kateryna testifies in her message.

"I testify that the death of my parents was not an accident. They were brutally murdered. I ask everyone to hold in their hearts that those who killed them are bearers of evil. And evil has no nationality, skin color, age, or even flesh. My parents became victims of the eternal struggle between the devil and God! I earnestly ask everyone who loved my parents: do not lose this battle. Evil is defeated only by good!" Kateryna wrote.

According to Fr. Andriy Chicherinda, the bodies of the deceased have not yet been buried.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that in a village in the Donetsk region, a UOC priest and his wife were killed by shelling.

Read also