Description of the attraction
The Chapel of the Icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow" in the city of Svetlogorsk is the first Orthodox church built in the region in the post-war years. The chapel was erected in 1994 to commemorate the victims of the disaster that occurred on May 16, 1972.
The project of the future temple was developed by a group of architects led by Alexei Archipenko. Inside the chapel, you can see a tiny iconostasis, as well as photographs of all the people who died in this place on May 16, 1972.
On this day, the An-24 aircraft of the 263rd separate transport aviation regiment of the Baltic Fleet of the USSR during a flight to test the newly installed radio equipment, being in adverse weather conditions, crashed. The aircraft, having caught a tree, fell directly onto the building of the city kindergarten.
The fall caused damage to the fuel tanks, resulting in fuel leakage. During a severe fire, not only the crew of the crashed plane died, but also 26 people who were at that time in the kindergarten building. In this terrible plane crash, only two managed to survive.
In those days, this terrible tragedy was not widely publicized. And only 22 years later, thanks to people's donations, a small chapel appeared on this place to preserve the memory of those who, on that terrible May day, so unexpectedly passed away. Every year on May 16, pilots from Khrabrovo come to the chapel of the icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow" in the city of Svetlogorsk and lay flowers at the place of death of their comrades. There is a Sunday school for children at the chapel.
