Outlook Web Desk
The Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lypivka Village, Ukraine, has become a beacon of hope for residents after two years of war.
The two-week Russian occupation in 2022 left the village shattered and the church itself — a modern replacement for an older structure — damaged while still under construction.
The Church sheltered nearly 100 residents while Russian troops occupied the village in March 2022.
It’s one of 129 war-damaged Ukrainian religious sites recorded by UNESCO, the United Nations’ cultural organisation.
There has been a church on this site for more than 300 years. An earlier building was destroyed by shelling during World War II. The small wooden church that replaced it was put to more workaday uses in Soviet times, when religion was suppressed.
Work stopped when Russian troops launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. Since then, fighting has been concentrated in the east and south of Ukraine, though aerial attacks with rockets, missiles and drones are a constant threat across the country.
By May 2022, workers resumed work on the church, despite the challenges posed by the ongoing war and the loss of skilled workers.
As Ukraine marks its third Easter at war, the new church is nearing completion, bringing spiritual comfort to war-weary residents of Lypivka.