Metropolitan Herman of Kursk and Rila, in a report addressed to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia on August 7, 2024, spoke about the state of affairs in the Kursk Diocese in recent days.
"The last two nights have been anxious and sleepless for the city of Kursk. Almost hourly, the alarm was announced, warnings about missile danger, explosions thundered. But the attacks of missiles and drones over the city were almost all successfully repelled by air defense forces. In the early morning of August 6, a massive shelling of the city of Suji, located 110 km from the regional center, began. Many residential and administrative buildings have been destroyed, there are dead and injured. Five active churches (and all of them have been restored and well restored) are not damaged," the head of the Kursk Metropolia said.
Metropolitan Herman also spoke about the destruction in the Gornalsky Nikolaevsky Belogorsky Monastery, which was shelled by the Armed Forces of Ukraine: "Early in the morning, the St. Nicholas Belogorsky Monastery, located in the Sudzhansky district in the town of Gornal in close proximity to the Ukrainian border, was shelled. As a result of the shelling, the Nikolaevsky monastery, the main temple of the monastery, was significantly damaged, its dome was destroyed, all doors and windows were knocked out. In the evening of the same day, after the second massive blow, the second temple of the monastery with a good oak iconostasis and beautiful paintings was destroyed and burned down. Other buildings of the monastery were also significantly damaged. The few brethren tried to do everything possible to extinguish the fire and save the shrines and utensils, but drones were constantly flying over the monastery, which additionally dropped mines, a gas distribution station, a water pump with a water tower, and outbuildings were destroyed in the monastery."
Accommodation facilities have been prepared for the brethren in Kursk and one of the temples of the city is their compound.
The Kursk diocesan administration has transferred funds "for the purchase of medicines for the injured civilians and our wounded soldiers." Premises have also been prepared "to accommodate refugees from the war zone, and these are the Sudzhansky, Korenevsky and Glushkovsky border areas."
"The situation is extremely dangerous, tense and alarming, the enemy forces are significant, but the authorities are working clearly, there is no panic, people remain calm, and we hope that our military will be able to defeat and expel the enemies who invaded our territory," the bishop concluded.