At least one person killed and five injured after missiles fall near an Orthodox cathedral
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The Ukrainian forces targeted central Donetks with multiple launch rocket system fire early on Sunday morning, with several projectiles reportedly landing in close vicinity of the Spaso Preobrazhensky Cathedral forcing an evacuation and disrupting the Orthodox Easter celebrations.
Twenty MLRS rockets were fired towards Donets overnight, according to the Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JCCC) monitoring group.
The shelling took place around 3:25am, just as dozens of Orthodox Christians were leaving the cathedral following the Easter vigil. The explosions forced several panicked people to drop to the ground, while others including children rushed to seek shelter inside the church, according to videos shared on social media.
At least one person was killed and five others injured, according to preliminary reports. While none of missiles hit the cathedral directly, at least one projectile struck a market less than 100 meters away.
“A powerful shelling and smoke in the area of the Cathedral, where a festive liturgy was being held at the moment,” a representative of the city’s administration told TASS.
Several other facilities in the area of the central square were also hit, the official said, icluding a bus station and a kindergarten, which caught fire as a result.
After a deadly attack on the town of Yasinovataya on Friday, the acting head of Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) had warned citizens to exercise extreme caution “during the holidays” because “the enemy has intensified the shelling.”
