On the evening of March 21, 2023, as a result of shelling, the buildings of the Iversky Monastery of the Odessa Diocese were once again damaged. This was reported in the press service of the Odessa diocese, reports the Information and Education Department of the UOC.

It is noted that, thanks to God, all the inhabitants of the monastery are alive.

Natalia Humenyuk, head of the Joint Coordinating Press Center of the Ukrainian Defense Forces “South”, assessed the destruction of the monastery as powerful.

“Three missiles were fired from SU-35 fighters. guided missiles. Two missiles were destroyed by air defense systems. One hit a three-story building of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. This is a monastery where 4 people suffered. One person has been hospitalized. Three received minor injuries and refused hospitalization. The destruction is quite powerful. More than 200 square meters of roofing have been destroyed. There were two fires,” she said.

The victims were given first aid by the EMH brigades and rescuers of the State Emergency Service, who arrived at the scene of the shelling in 6 minutes.

Bishop Diodor of Yuzhnoe thanked all the services that promptly arrived on the territory of the monastery after the shelling, and said that all “the churches are intact, only the windows were broken in them, the roof of the residential building was damaged.”

“And we want to note the miracle that happened in the chapel with the revered icon of the Mother of God “Iberian”. The chapel suffered greatly from the shelling, but the image of the Mother of God remained unharmed, ”the diocesan press service added in a message.

“We felt the protection of the Most Holy Theotokos,” the bishop said and said that 15 people lived in the building, five of them lived on the 3rd floor, under the very roof.

“We suffered together with the Ukrainian people, of which each of us is an integral part,” he summed up.