Russian drone destroys 18th-century wooden Cossack church in Kherson Oblast
Russian forces destroyed the Holy Presentation Church in Beryslav, Kherson Oblast, which is an architectural monument from the 18th century. The church burned down after an attack by a Russian drone, as reported by the regional military administration.
The church was the only preserved example in Ukraine of wooden Cossack sacred architecture from that era.
The church was built from oak logs in 1725 in the fortress of Perevolochna without the use of metal nails.
In 1784, Cossacks dismantled the structure, floated it down the Dnipro River to Beryslav and reassembled it at its new location. Since then, the building had been closely tied to the history of the city’s founding and development.
“The church survived many historical upheavals and Soviet anti-religious campaigns, but was destroyed by fire as a result of a Russian attack,” the regional administration said.
Ukraine’s Culture Ministry has said that because of Russian aggression, 1,949 cultural heritage monuments and 2,576 cultural infrastructure sites have been destroyed or damaged across the country.