Priest Yuriy Klymko, 58, was identified as one of the victims (Picture: east2west)
Vladimir Putin unleashed a 500kg bomb on a church in Ukraine, killing at least four people.
Days after Russia’s full-scale invasion entered its third year, FAB-500 bombs were dropped on the northeastern Kharkiv region.
Among the victims was a Ukrainian priest, who was discovered under the rubble of the church in the centre of the frontline city of Kupiansk.
He was identified as Yuriy Klymko, 58, who was also a Ukrainian military chaplain.
‘The Church of Jesus Christ was recorded as being hit. A 58-year-old pastor was under the rubble,’ the Ukrainian Interior Ministry confirmed.
The bloodied body of a 39-year-old man was discovered not far from the church, in a café also destroyed in the strike.
At least 12 buildings in the Kharkiv region were damaged (Picture: Emergency Service of Ukraine)
The aftermath of the attack with a FAB-500 bomb (Picture: Emergency Service of Ukraine)
Kharkiv’s governor Oleh Synehubov said five other people were wounded in the city, some 40 miles from the Russian border.
In the village of Velykyi Burluk, a six-year old girl and her 48-year-old grandfather were killed.
Meanwhile, at least 12 residential houses were damaged in the strike earlier today.
Before the war, Kupiansk was a bustling railway hub with a population of about 30,000.
It was briefly occupied by Russian forces in the early weeks of the invasion, but it was recaptured by Ukraine during the counteroffensive in the autumn of that year.
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