Holy Cross Church of UOC in Kyiv damaged by shelling

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross Church in Podil after the attack on September 27. Photo: Fr. Valery Kravets

In the night of September 27, 2026, as a result of another wave of Russian attacks, the Exaltation of the Holy Cross Church of the UOC in Podil, Kyiv, was damaged, reports Father Valery Kravets on his Facebook page.

As a result of the strike, windows were blown out in the church, and church utensils and icons were damaged.

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross Church (the Church of the Exaltation of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord) is an Orthodox church in Kyiv Podil, an architectural monument of the 19th century, belonging to the Podil Deanery, the Northern Kyiv Vicariate, the Kyiv Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). The building in the style of late classicism (Empire style), designed by the first chief architect of Kyiv Andriy Melensky, was consecrated in 1841. In the early 20th century, the church was painted by artist Hryhoriy Svitlytsky, who was himself baptized here in 1872.

As the UOJ reported, a Russian missile strike damamged Sts. Peter and Paul's Church in Sumy. Similar strikes on churches in various regions of Ukraine are reported regularly: over the past month, religious sites in the Sumy and Odesa regions, as well as in Kyiv itself, have been damaged. The Holy Protection Church in Vynohradar, which had already been damaged previously, is also located in Kyiv.

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