War in Ukraine

For many Ukrainians pouring westward to flee conflict, the baroque 18th-century church with its distinct twin bell towers, standing tall above the old city’s red rooftops, proved a natural beacon for those propelled far from home.

Viktoria Halitsina, head of the Ukrainian military administration of the port city of Berdyansk, wrote on her agency’s Telegram channel that Russian troops had seized the city’s Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Ukrainian church leaders have warned Russians they will have to answer for savagery inflicted on their country, following the International Criminal Court’s indictment of President Vladimir Putin for war crimes.