(OSV News): Catholic and Orthodox leaders expressed shock and outrage after a Russian drone strike heavily damaged the historic 11th century monastery complex in Kyiv, Ukraine, setting the cathedral ablaze.
The Dormition Cathedral at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, a UNESCO World Heritage site, sustained a direct hit amid a wave of June 14-15 attacks launched by Russia across Ukraine that targeted several cultural and residential structures.
The monastery is “one of the most holy sites in the Orthodox world,” said Metropolitan Archbishop Borys Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia in a June 14 Facebook post.
The combined barrage of missiles and drones launched by Russia killed at least 11 and wounded 53, according to Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Two children, ages 5 and 6, were injured.
Zelenskyy inspected the damage to the Dormition Cathedral, climbing up with a delegation onto the roof, more than 799 square metres of which had been torched.
Catholic and Orthodox leaders expressed shock and outrage after a Russian drone strike heavily damaged the historic 11th century monastery complex in Kyiv, Ukraine, setting the cathedral ablaze
According to its website, the Lavra—derived from Greek, signifying a monastery of particular importance—is “the first and the most ancient monastery on the territory of contemporary Ukraine.”
Founded by the monks Anthony and Theodosius, and declared “venerable” among Orthodox Christians—the site is one of three lavras in Ukraine “consecrated in honour of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos [Mother of God],” said the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra on its website.
In 1941, retreating Red Army forces detonated mines in the cathedral, which was then looted from 1941-1943 by Nazi invaders. Full restoration of the church was completed in 2000.
“The Russian occupiers have once again attacked our capital in an inhumane manner,” lamented Bishop Vitalii Kryvytskyi of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kyiv-Zhytomyr in a June 15 Facebook post.
He noted that “’Orthodox Russia is destroying Orthodox shrines.”
The Russian occupiers have once again attacked our capital in an inhumane manner
Bishop Vitalii Kryvytskyi
Bishop Kryvytskyi said, “They will probably say again that the Ukrainian air defence is to blame. But if Russia had not attacked Ukraine, our air defence would not have had to work. We are grateful to our air defence soldiers, as well as to all the Defenders of Ukraine, for the protection they have provided us during all these terrible years.”
Russia has denied attacking the Lavra, although Zelenskyy noted in an official statement that “it has been confirmed that two Russian drones deliberately targeted the part of the city” where both the Lavra and the Mystetskyi Arsenal, a museum and art exhibition space, are situated.
Metropolitan Epiphanius of Kyiv and All Ukraine, primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, said in a June 15 post on X [formerly Twitter] that Russia’s attack on the cathedral was “another Russian crime against humanity, against history, against Christianity.”
Archbishop Gudziak said the strike was “a summons to all Orthodox to speak out.”
Bishop Kryvytskyi expressed his “sincere condolences to the Orthodox brothers and sisters, the families of the dead and wounded, all residents of the city, institutions and organisations that suffered today, adding, “and not only in Kyiv.”
Well over 700 religious sites in Ukraine have been damaged or destroyed due to Russian attacks, according to several monitoring groups.
