Denys Yaroslavsky, 42, a serviceman who witnessed the arrival of the first Russian soldiers in the city of Vovchansk, recounts his experience to AFP in Kharkiv on September 20, 2024. – AFP file

The copper-domed basilica in Vovchansk, once bustling with worshippers during festivals like Easter, now stands eerily empty. Father Igor Klymenko's congregation, displaced by relentless Russian attacks that have reduced their border city to rubble, numbered just nine when AFP met them in Kharkiv on an autumn morning.

"The strongest people, truly the strongest, stayed in Vovchansk," said the burly, bearded cleric, gesturing to the few women in headscarves and elderly men praying behind him. "And they too left after May 10," when Russia unleashed a ferocious military assault on eastern Ukraine.

Ninety percent of central Vovchansk has been destroyed, according to the city's mayor, worse than even the devastation in Bakhmut. Despite this, the orange-bricked Myrrh Bearers Church remained standing until recently. Satellite imagery analyzed by Bellingcat, an open-source investigative collective, now shows only charred walls.

Since becoming parish priest in October 2022, Father Igor has lost count of the lives lost. The first was Olga, killed by shrapnel while fetching carrots for the church on October 8, 2023. Originally from Rubizhne, Father Igor had to abandon his farm when the village came under bombardment on May 22. He managed to save only the holy books and church objects.

Father Igor delivered his last sermon in Vovchansk on May 5. The night of May 9-10 marked the beginning of the onslaught. Raisa, one of his parishioners, messaged him, "Father, pray for us, because here it is hell." Her husband Volodymyr was likely killed by a Russian sniper while attempting to flee the city on May 16.

Recently, Father Igor conducted a funeral mass "in absentia" in Kharkiv for those whose bodies were left behind. Despite belonging to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarchate, Father Igor avoids discussing the political schism, focusing instead on the enduring faith and solidarity of his parishioners.

Seventy-year-old Oleksandre Garlychev risked his life to return to Vovchansk last month to retrieve parts for his 44-year-old Soviet GAZ-24 Volga and his hymn book, which he has used for 24 years. "We need more goodness, more compassion between us," he said.

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