In the midst of a military offensive in the Russian region of Kursk, the Ukrainian army’s shelling has caused, according to the Russian authorities, the death of five civilians and several serious injuries over the past 24 hours. Ukraine, for its part, deplores the death of eleven people in Russian shelling targeting several localities in Donetsk, still at the heart of the fighting between the two armies, one of which may have caused the death of a journalist from the British news agency Reuters, currently missing under the rubble.
At the same time, the sovereign pontiff of the Christian Church condemns the recent ban on the Moscow-linked Orthodox Church in Ukraine, a confession that was for a long time the main one in the country, and calls on Volodymyr Zelensky not to deprive believers of their place of worship in times of war.
Key information to remember
⇒ Russian attacks in Donetsk left eleven dead
⇒ Ukrainian attacks killed five Russian civilians in the Kursk region.
⇒ Pope condemns ban on Moscow-linked Orthodox Church.
Eleven dead in Ukrainian Donetsk, five in Russia
Eleven people have been killed in two regions of Ukraine in Russian shelling, and five in Ukrainian fire in Russia in the last 24 hours, the respective authorities of the two countries indicated on Sunday, August 25. In the Ukrainian region of Donetsk (east), where most of the fighting is taking place, seven people have died since Saturday in Kostyantynivka, Toretsk and Kotlyné, according to the governor. Four people were also killed and 13 injured in shelling by the Russian army in the region of Sumy (north), the Ukrainian police indicated.
The region faces Kursk in Russia, where Ukrainian troops launched an offensive of unprecedented scale in early August, seizing dozens of towns. On the Russian side, five people were killed in Ukrainian bombings in the Belgorod region overnight, the governor of the region, which borders Kursk, announced on Sunday. He said 13 people were also injured, six of whom are “in serious condition,” including a 16-year-old girl who is in intensive care.
Reuters employee missing, two injured
“One of our colleagues is missing, while two others have been taken to hospital for treatment,” Reuters said in a statement, following a strike that hit a hotel in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, on Saturday night. The governor of the Donetsk region, where most of the fighting is taking place, said the hotel “was targeted” by the Russian army.
According to Governor Filashkin, the three journalist victims are “citizens of Ukraine, the United States and the United Kingdom.” The attack, which damaged the Sapphire Hotel and a neighboring building, took place “in the middle of the night,” he continued on Telegram. “Police and rescuers are working at the scene. The rubble is being cleared and rescue operations are underway,” he added.
Pope condemns Moscow-linked Church ban
“Let those who want to pray in what they consider to be their Church be allowed to pray. […] Please, please do not abolish directly or indirectly any Christian Church. We do not touch the Churches.” Pope Francis condemned this Sunday the banning the previous day by kyiv of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church linked to Moscow, which was for a long time the main confession in the country. The sovereign pontiff expressed his concern for freedom of worship in the war-torn country.
“I continue to follow with sorrow the fighting in Ukraine and the Russian Federation. And thinking about the laws recently adopted in Ukraine, I fear for the freedom of those who pray,” the head of the Catholic Church said at the end of the weekly Angelus prayer. “Because those who truly pray always pray for everyone. You do not commit evil by praying,” he insisted before the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square. Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, who openly supported the invasion of Ukraine, accused kyiv on Saturday of “persecuting” believers of this branch.
China ‘strongly dissatisfied’ with US sanctions
China has expressed “strong dissatisfaction” and “firm opposition” to new US sanctions on Chinese companies over their ties to Moscow, a Chinese commerce ministry spokesman said on Sunday.
Washington announced a new round of sanctions Friday targeting 400 entities and individuals in Russia, Belarus, China and other countries, including some 60 defense technology companies, including “products and services that enable Russia to support its war effort” in Ukraine. Beijing “urges the United States to immediately stop its bad practices and will take necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies,” the ministry said.