According to the spokesman, Major General Igor Konashenkov, the wooden structure was intentionally damaged by nationalist groups in the service of Kiev.

Monks, residents and members of the territorial defense militias flocked to the place and tried to extinguish the flames, unsuccessfully, as the “nationalists prevented it by opening fire to intimidate them.”

Konashenkov stressed that the enemy combatants tried to take refuge with the Orthodox monks, using them as a shield, knowing well that the Russian military does not bomb places of worship and cultural monuments, causing the indignation of neighbors.

The head of the town, Vladimir Bandura, denounced on video that the Ukrainian forces kill clerics and monks, but hide the facts well. He further said that units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine loot, steal and sow chaos.

“I want to say that [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky and his camarilla protect their people so well that I am speechless. They have all become puppets of the West, they receive money, they prolong the war. Nobody thinks about the population,” he said.

Bandura called on Zelensky to accept the peace talks and stop waging a merciless and senseless war.

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