At the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, work will begin in the coming days on installing a conservation shelter for the Holy Dormition Cathedral, which was damaged during Russia’s attack on Kyiv on 15 June.
Maxym Ostapenko, Director General of the National Preserve “Kyiv Pechersk Lavra”, said this on Radio Kultura.
According to him, the funds for installing the shelter were allocated from the reserve fund. The structure is intended to protect the damaged building over the winter period and create the necessary conditions to begin restoration work.
Ostapenko noted that installation of the shelter will start in the coming days. At the same time, restoring the cathedral itself could take up to two years, provided funding remains stable and there is no further damage.
- During another large-scale Russian attack on the night of Monday, 15 June, a Russian Shahed drone struck the altar section of the Dormition Cathedral at the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra. A fire broke out as a result.
- Bishop Avraamii, the abbot of the Holy Dormition Kyiv Pechersk Lavra of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), reported that an urgent evacuation of the shrine and liturgical items was organised, including ancient icons, antimensia and other sacred objects that are of not only ecclesiastical but also national and universal value. They were saved.
- Ukraine has initiated the necessary procedures within UNESCO and other international mechanisms, demanding an immediate and adequate response from Russia.
- In its statement, UNESCO condemned attacks on cultural heritage sites, but did not specify who carried out the shelling.
- More details on Russia’s terror against the Lavra can be found in LB.ua’s report “Attack on the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra: how the Dormition Cathedral burned and what was saved”.