Department for External Church Relations (DECR) The Moscow Patriarchate, with the financial assistance of the Foundation for the Support of Christian Culture and Heritage, organized the arrival and stay of the victim in Moscow.
As a result of the terrorist attack on June 22, 2025 at the Orthodox church of the Prophet Elijah in Damascus, 21-year-old Michel suffered a severe comminuted fracture of his arm. He needed complex reconstructive treatment, which could not be carried out in Syria.
"Michel came to Russia at the request of His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Great Antioch and All the East to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. St. Alexy's Metropolitan Church Hospital is famous for its strong trauma department," said the hospital's chief physician, A.Y. Zarov.
On August 22, the patient underwent surgery. The head of the Center for Hand Microsurgery, Reconstructive and Plastic Surgery at St. Alexy's Hospital, traumatologist V.A. Kalantyrskaya performed a complex operation on the bones and soft tissues of her left forearm, damaged as a result of injury.
The Russian Orthodox Church regularly provides assistance to the Orthodox Church of Antioch in matters related to medical care for victims. In particular, in 2022, a Center for Child Rehabilitation and Prosthetics for young patients injured in the fighting was opened at the Compound of the Russian Orthodox Church in Damascus with the participation of the Foundation for the Support of Christian Culture and Heritage. In the same year, St. Alexy's Hospital hosted a delegation of doctors from the Patriarchal Hospital "Al-Hosn" from Syria.
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On June 22, 2025, during a Sunday service at the Orthodox Church of the Prophet Elijah in Damascus, a suicide bomber opened fire on worshippers, after which he committed suicide. As a result of the terrorist attack, 25 people were killed and more than 60 injured.