Світло Євангелії (in English, ‘Light of the Gospel’), an evangelical church in Balakliya, a town of 20,000 inhabitants south of Kharkiv, Ukraine, was attacked and set ablaze on Saturday 23 May during a Russian airstrike.

The day before Sunday service, at around 4 pm, shells struck the church building, and footage captured by a local resident showed the flames that “completely destroyed the roof”.

All Evangelical Focus news and opinion, on your WhatsApp.

Ukrainian authorities of Balakliya reported on Telegram that nobody was inside the place of worship at the time of the attack. “Nothing is sacred to the enemy,” they stated, “a place where people came to pray has become a target for Russian weapons”.
 

First reaction from the church

On its website, the church leadership explained: “The attack caused a large-scale fire. The fire completely destroyed the roof of the building, several key rooms and significantly damaged all the interiors”.

Shortly afterwards, with the emergency services in action, people gathered, weeping and praying as they embraced one another, whilst watching the destruction wrought by the flames.

The church, which is part of the evangelical denomination Christian and Missionary Alliance, explains that they have survived the Russian occupation of recent years and the detention and subsequent release by Russian troops of their pastor, Alexander Sergeevich Suffetnikov.

The following day, Sunday 24 May, church members and neighbours worked in teams to “clear away rubble and burnt structures, clean the remaining premises and salvage church property and books”.

The church insists that “none of the people were injured. In the midst of this darkness and the ruins, the community clearly felt God’s presence”, they add.

Hot meals and refuge in Easter Ukraine's war zone

'Light of the Gospel' in Balakliya had been carrying out extensive community work, providing hot meals, offering refuge in times of war and spiritual care.

“The church, which for years was the centre of hope, charity and love, was once again in the enemy’s sights. But even a huge fire cannot burn what is built on the solid rock of faith”, they conclude.

The website now offers the chanee to donate towards rebuilding the place of worship.

More buildings in Balakliya destroyed on the same day

According to municipal government sources, the same drone attack also affected “a block of flats and private homes”.

A few hours earlier, on Saturday morning, another attack by Russian drones targeted the city centre, bombing a cultural centre, civilian infrastructure, a café and more homes. Four people sustained injuries of varying severity.

Dozens of churches attacked by Russia since 2022

An in-depth report from February 2025 concluded that, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, Russia had attacked 643 places of worship, 176 of which were Protestant or Evangelical.

In April 2026, a Russian drone struck a Baptist church in Zaporizhzhia whilst several people were gathered inside, killing the pastor.

In March 2025, a father and his young daughter who had sought refuge in an evangelical church in Kyiv were also killed following a Russian attack on the congregation.