The sound of broken brick and glass could be heard underfoot as Ukraine’s special “White Angel” police officers walked through a destroyed church in Donetsk on Tuesday 17 September.

Blue, gold and red hues of the church’s decorative paintings were set against rubble on the ground.

The church was built more than 110 years ago, Gennadiy Yudin, the major of the special police unit said, walking through the debris in Novoeconomichne, a small village a few kilometers from the frontline in eastern Ukraine.

The dome was completely destroyed and several icons of Jesus Christ left in ruins.

“Locals are saying that this church survived the Second World War, but was destroyed by the Russian army,” Yudin said.

Russian forces destroyed the church with aerial bombardment on 8th July according to Ukrainian officials.

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