UNHOLY MESS

Russian Shelling Blasts Landmark Church in Ukraine

St. Catherine’s Cathedral was once the burial site of an important Russian commander.

A culturally significant church in Ukraine was damaged by Russian shelling on Thursday, with four emergency responders wounded by another bombardment as they attempted to tackle the flames. The initial attack that hit St. Catherine’s Cathedral in the southern city of Kherson also struck a trolleybus and injured four other people, according to the prosecutor general’s office. The cathedral, built in 1781, is one of Kherson’s most notable buildings and formerly served as the burial site of Prince Grigory Potemkin, an 18th century Russian commander who exerted control over southeastern regions of modern Ukraine and the illegally annexed Crimean Peninsula. He was once believed to have erected fake settlements dubbed “Potemkin villages” to impress Russian Empress Catherine the Great as she traveled through the region. Potemkin’s remains were removed from the church last year during Russia’s occupation of the city, which ended in November during a Ukrainian counteroffensive. Another historic cathedral, in Odessa, was severely damaged in a Russian missile strike last week.