Russian strike damages Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Sumy for fourth time
The UOC's Church of Sts. Peter and Paul in Sumy damaged by Russian shelling. Photo: Sumy Eparchy
The Sts. Peter and Paul Church of the UOC Sumy Eparchy, located at the city cemetery and designated as an architectural monument of national significance, sustained extensive damage in a Russian airstrike on Sumy, the Sumy Eparchy reports.
On the afternoon of August 29, 2026, Russian forces struck the city with four guided aerial bombs. Two civilians were killed in a residential area, while numerous gravestones at the city cemetery were destroyed or damaged.
The rector of Sts. Peter and Paul Church, Archpriest Nikolai Golik, said the blast wave blew out the windows and shattered nearly all the glass, caused plaster to fall and brought down sections of the ceiling in several places.
According to the priest, doors were blown out, several icons were knocked from their places, the roof was punctured in numerous spots, and the walls were riddled with large and small bomb fragments.
The UOC Sumy Eparchy stressed that this is the fourth time the church has been damaged by strikes. The eparchial administration expressed condolences to the rector, clergy and parishioners, as well as to the families of the Sumy residents who were killed, and called on the faithful to pray for peace in Ukraine and the preservation of human life.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that the Holy Trinity Church of the UOC was damaged by shelling in Vylkove, Odesa Region.
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