'A great pity': Ukrainian village faces a churchless Easter

A single metal cross remains inside the Orthodox church of shattered brick and blackened stone

LUKASHIVKA, Ukraine -- A single metal cross remains inside the church of shattered brick and blackened stone. Russian soldiers used the house of worship for storing ammunition, residents said, and Ukrainian forces shelled the building to make the Russians leave.

There will be no Orthodox Easter service here Sunday in this small village in northern Ukraine.

One of the church's golden domes was blown off. Its gilded cross is propped up against an exterior wall.

“It’s a great pity,” resident Valentina Ivanivna, 70, said, standing with her bike on Orthodox Good Friday as men dismantled Russian military vehicles abandoned nearby.