With the support of the DECR, a victim of terrorist attack in a Syrian church receives medical care in Moscow

DECR Communication service, 29.08.2025.

On June 22, 2025, during the Sunday service at the Orthodox Church of the Prophet Elijah in Damascus, a suicide terrorist opened fire on the worshipping parishioners before detonating himself. As a result of the terrorist attack, 25 people were killed and more than 60 were wounded. Michel, a 21-year-old, suffered a severe comminuted fracture of his arm. He required complex reconstructive treatment, which could not be provided in Syria.

The Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, with financial assistance from the Foundation for the Support of Christian Culture and Heritage, organized the victim’s travel and stay in Moscow.

“Michel came to Russia at the request of His Beatitude Patriarch John X of the Great Antioch and All the East to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus'. The metropolitan Hospital of St. Alexy of Moscow is renowned for its strong trauma department,” noted the chief physician of the hospital, A.Yu. Zarov.

On August 22, the patient underwent surgery. V.A. Kalantyrskaya, Head of the Center for Hand Microsurgery, Reconstructive and Plastic Surgery at the St. Alexy Hospital and a trauma specialist, performed a complex operation on the bones and soft tissues of the left forearm damaged by the injury.

The Russian Orthodox Church regularly provides assistance to the Antiochian Orthodox Church in matters related to medical care for victims. In particular, in 2022, a Center for Pediatric Rehabilitation and Prosthetics was opened at the Compound of the Russian Orthodox Church in Damascus for young patients injured during hostilities. That same year, the St. Alexy Hospital hosted a delegation of doctors from the Patriarchal Hospital "Al-Hosn" in Syria.

Photo: Press Service of the Hospita of St. Alexy of Moscow

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With the support of the DECR, a victim of terrorist attack in a Syrian church receives medical care in Moscow

Patriarch

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Patriarch

Department Chairman

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