On September 19, a Russian FPV drone struck an Orthodox monastery in Kherson region, killing a 71-year-old priest and injuring four fellow clergy. The strike was part of a wider wave of attacks on 43 settlements across the region.
On September 19, 2026, at around 3 p.m. local time, a Russian FPV drone struck an Orthodox monastery in the village of Chervonyi Maiak, Kherson region — government-controlled territory close to the front line. The strike killed a 71-year-old priest and left four fellow clergy members, aged 51, 53, 51 and 31, with blast injuries. Volunteers Support Ukraine was saddened to learn of this loss and continues to follow developments in the frontline communities it works to support.
According to Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration, the enemy drone hit the monastery grounds in the early afternoon. The eldest of those affected, a 71-year-old priest, died at the scene; the four other clergymen suffered blast injuries and needed medical treatment. For Volunteers Support Ukraine, a strike on a monastery — a site with no military value whatsoever — is a painful reminder of what frontline civilians and religious communities endure every day.
The strike on the monastery came amid a wider wave of Russian attacks on the Kherson region that same day: on September 19, the enemy hit 43 settlements across the region with aircraft, drones and artillery. Over that 24-hour period, regional authorities reported three people killed and nine wounded, including a child — figures that include the monastery victim rather than add to them. Homes, an apartment building, a fuel station, a gas pipeline and farm buildings were also damaged. Volunteers Support Ukraine sees this as yet another sign of how exposed frontline communities remain, day after day.
Chervonyi Maiak, part of the Novoraisk community in Beryslav district, is one of many villages in the region that face regular shelling because of their proximity to the Dnipro River and nearby occupied territory. Clergy, like ordinary residents, face real danger simply carrying out their daily lives. Volunteers Support Ukraine has seen firsthand, through its work in frontline regions, how thin the line can be between an ordinary day and a tragedy.
This tragedy is another reminder of why the work of Volunteers Support Ukraine remains necessary. The NGO Volunteers Support Ukraine continues to help people affected by the war in whatever ways its resources allow — through humanitarian aid, support for frontline communities, and by giving attention to stories that might otherwise go unnoticed. Our thoughts are with the family and community of the priest who was killed, and with everyone affected in the Kherson region that day.
