Kiev under attack, hit and damaged Dormition Cathedral, UNESCO heritage site

A massive Russian attack on Ukraine overnight caused severe damage to the Dormition Cathedral in Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, one of the country’s most important places of worship and a UNESCO World Heritage site. “A Russian drone struck the altar area of the Cathedral of the Assumption, particularly the Stefanivskyi side chapel. As a result of the attack, both the exterior and interior of the cathedral as well as adjacent buildings of the complex were damaged,” reads the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture website.

According to local authorities, at least 20 people were injured in the capital, while damage to the electrical infrastructure resulted in power outages for some 140,000 residents. The death toll in Kiev is at least four. Also heavy is the situation in Kharkiv, where a Russian attack struck rescue workers engaged in firefighting operations in an industrial area. As Ukrainian Interior Minister Igor Klymenko reported, at least five emergency workers lost their lives and nine others were injured.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Russians fired more than 60 missiles at Kiev overnight. In total, according to the head of state, the offensive involved 70 missiles and 611 drones. In a message posted on X, Zelensky called the damage to the Dormition Cathedral, whose origins date back to the 11th century, “one of the most serious crimes against the heritage of Christian culture perpetrated by Russia.” State Emergency Service teams managed to put out the fire that had affected the building’s roof.

Also affected and damaged in the Lavra territory were the Treasury of the National Museum of History of Ukraine, the Museum of the Book and Press of Ukraine, the National Library of the History of Ukraine, the National Academy of Managerial Personnel of Culture and the Arts, and the repository of the National Museum of Architecture and Folk Life of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture reports, while in Kiev, the Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Film Studios, one of the oldest in Ukraine, was also hit. The attack caused a fire and damaged the studio’s costume workshop and other buildings. Ukraine’s largest and oldest costume collection was destroyed: about 100 thousand costumes and more than three million items of clothing used in Ukrainian film production and preserved for decades as part of the country’s film heritage. The national cultural, artistic and museum complex “Mystetskyi Arsenal” suffered extensive damage. The National Palace of Arts “Ukraine” was also hit, with broken glass and damage to the facade.

In Kharkiv, a drone attack hit the Kharkiv Museum of Art, one of the country’s most important art institutions. The museum building, a locally recognized architectural monument, suffered extensive damage; in Dnipro, the Dnipropetrovsk House of the Organ and Chamber Music, a national architectural monument known as the Briansk (Mykolaiv) Church, was damaged by the shockwave. The historic building, listed in the State Register of Property Monuments of Ukraine, was hit.

“Today’s attack bears all the hallmarks of a deliberate attack on Ukrainian culture, memory and identity,” said Tetyana Berezhna, Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy and Minister of Culture of Ukraine. “The Kiev Cave Monastery, a world-renowned shrine, was targeted, as well as the Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Film Studios, the Kharkiv Art Museum and numerous cultural and educational institutions. Russia is trying to burn our memory, our history and the records of who we are. The Dovzhenko Studios costume collection destroyed, museums and cultural and educational institutions damaged-these are losses that affect not only Ukraine. This is an attack on the world’s cultural heritage and an attempt to erase the cultural symbols of the Ukrainian nation. We are documenting every act of destruction and working with international partners to protect and restore our cultural heritage.”

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, it was a U.S.-made Patriot missile that struck the Pechersk Monastery buildings in Kiev. “According to confirmed information, the buildings of the Pechersk Monastery in Kiev were hit by a missile of the U.S.-made Patriot air defense system,” reads a statement quoted by Russian agencies. “One of the reasons for the malfunction of this system could be the supply to the Kiev regime of missiles with expired operational life by Western countries. The Russian armed forces do not plan and carry out attacks on civilian infrastructure.”

Kiev under attack, hit and damaged Dormition Cathedral, UNESCO heritage site

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