Four injured monks and body of deceased clergyman evacuated under Russian shelling in Kherson Oblast

In the Kherson Region (Oblast), law enforcement officers helped four civilians escape Russian shelling and evacuated the body of a deceased man, the National Police reported.

Illustrative image. St Gregory’s Bizyukiv Men’s Monastery in the Kherson oblast. Photo: AhoV Facebook page

Four monks from a local monastery were evacuated from the Novoraisk “hromada”, a local government area that includes one or more nearby settlements. Most likely, it is the St Gregory’s Monastery.

The men recently sustained injuries as a result of a Russian drone strike on the territory of Chervonyi Maiak, while another 71-year-old clergyman was killed. The injured managed to reach Novoraisk, from where they were picked up by officers.

Law enforcement officers also transported the man’s body for burial.

To provide background, police officers recently evacuated a woman from a frontline village in the Kherson Oblast.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a news conference in the United States on 22 September that both Kyiv and Washington want Russia’s war to end before winter. After talks with President Trump in New York, Zelenskyy said they discussed possible de-escalatory steps and what he called a winter package for air defence for Ukraine. However, he said he was ready to end the war if Moscow signals that they agree.

When asked if this meant a readiness to meet with Putin, Zelenskyy replied, “Yes, I am ready to meet with Putin at any time”

At the same time, the president criticised the approach of talking about ending the war but doing nothing to achieve it.

“If you say that the war needs to be ended through dialogue, it means that you need to meet and talk,” Zelenskyy said, adding that this must be done despite the “hatred”.

Following a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in New York, Zelenskyy has stated on X that the signals sent by the lifting of sanctions on two Russian oligarchs are “self-destructive and counterproductive”.

Russia turned down an offer to meet with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Donald Trump, and Vladimir Putin, the leader of the Kremlin, in three countries.

“At a time when Russia is carrying out brutal attacks on our people – and even now, during the UN General Assembly, air raid alerts are ongoing in many regions because of drones and ballistic missiles – signals about lifting sanctions on individual Russian oligarchs are self-defeating and counterproductive,” he stated.

 Wars, he added, are ended through resolve and strength, not by making concessions to those close to the aggressor.

He thanked von der Leyen for her willingness to work on adding more Russian names to the EU sanctions lists.

The president and von der Leyen also discussed how to ensure Ukraine’s financial stability this year and next.

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