Ukrainian Drones Have Been Targeting Historic Orthodox Churches In Russia

Throughout over three years of the Russia-Ukraine war, there has been a sad and tragic trend of churches being struck by missiles, drones, or bombs on both sides of the conflict.

But attacks on religious sites have gone all the way back to 2014, and the start of the conflict in the Donbass, which saw pro-Kiev forces frequently shelling Russia-aligned areas, including attacks on Orthodox churches.

And of course, since then the Ukraine government has actively and openly persecuted Ukraine’s largest Orthodox church for simply maintaining spiritual communion with the Moscow Patriarchate.

Famous, historic monasteries have been shut down or seized by authorities, monks expelled, and churches have been raided by far-right nationalist militant groups. As for the other side, Russian aerial raids have often devastated whole Ukrainian neighborhoods, including destruction of local churches.

In a fresh incident, Russian government and media sources say a Ukrainian drone was sent across the border and struck an iconic, historic church in Belgorord region, which set the church on fire.

Local Belgorod governor Vyacheslav issued a statement on Telegram Saturday saying „the enemy is striking our holy sites again – an enemy drone has attacked Saint George Church in the village of Tolokonnoye.”

Emergency crews were able to extinguish the blaze, but not before the church’s domes caught on fire…

Earlier, Russia claimed a church was hit by FPV drones in Belgorod region.

The St. George the Victorious Church in the village of Tolokonnoe caught fire. The flames were quickly put out and no-one was injured. pic.twitter.com/jDlSCWZmOA

— Tim White (@TWMCLtd) May 3, 2025

Friday into early Saturday saw Ukrainian forces launch over 40 drones and some 150 artillery shells in Russia’s southern Belgorod region. Along with neighboring Kursk, Belgorod has seen repeat incursions by Ukraine’s military over the course of the war.

While it’s impossible to confirm whether all these attacks on churches were 'deliberate’ and targeted, Russian authorities believe this is the case, given an even more well-known church was just recently destroyed:

Last Thursday, the iconic New Jerusalem Orthodox church complex in the region burned down following a Ukrainian drone strike. Commenting on the incident at the time, Gladkov described it as a “deliberate” attack and also accused the Ukrainian military of subsequently targeting the firefighters who were trying to contain the blaze.

The New Jerusalem Church complex in the village of Sukharevo was entirely made of wood and so went up in flames quickly. That did clearly seem a targeted attack given Ukrainian drones dropped explosives directly on it.

‘New Jerusalem’ orthodox church attacked by Ukraine UAV burnt to the ground in Russia’s Belgorod region.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces reportedly attacked the temple at least twice, preventing local residents and firefighters from putting it out. At the time of the attack, four… pic.twitter.com/GB8hunxt49

— Russian Embassy in South Africa (@EmbassyofRussia) April 25, 2025

Currently, Moscow and Kiev are still far from agreeing on a ceasefire. President Zelensky has accused his Russian counterpart Putin of playing a „game” with offers of very limited, 3-day ceasefires. Kiev instead wants to start with a month-long truce, but Russia has described this as a pretext for Ukraine forces rearming and replenishing along the front lines.

„This is more of a theatrical performance on his part. Because in two or three days, it is impossible to develop a plan for the next steps to end the war,” Zelensky has said in his latest statement.