Catholic and Orthodox leaders are expressing shock and outrage after a Russian drone strike heavily damaged a historic monastery complex in Kyiv, Ukraine, setting its cathedral ablaze.
The Dormition Cathedral at the Pecherska Lavra, or the Monastery of the Caves, a UNESCO World Heritage site, sustained a direct hit amid a wave of 14-15 June attacks launched by Russia that targeted cultural and residential structures across Ukraine.
The 11th-century monastery is “one of the most holy sites in the Orthodox world,” said Metropolitan Archbishop Borys A. Gudziak of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia in a 14 June Facebook post.
The combined barrage of missiles and drones launched by Russia across the country killed at least 11 and wounded 53, according to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Two children, ages 5 and 6, were injured in Kyiv. Among the dead were five first responders in Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv.
The Ukrainian president inspected the damage to the Dormition Cathedral, climbing up with a delegation onto the roof, more than 8,600 square feet of which had been torched.
The lavra — the name of which, derived from Greek, signifies a monastery of particular importance — is, according to its website, “the first and the most ancient monastery on the territory of contemporary Ukraine,” and an important architectural, cultural and spiritual monument of Eastern Christianity.
Founded by the venerable monks Anthony and Theodosius, the monastery is one of three in Ukraine “consecrated in honor of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos,” according to its website.
In 1941, retreating Red Army forces detonated mines in the cathedral, which was then looted from 1941-1943 by the Nazi occupiers. Full restoration of the cathedral was completed in 2000.
The Russians “have once again attacked our capital in an inhumane manner,” lamented Bishop Vitalii Kryvytskyi of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kyiv-Zhytomyr in a 15 June Facebook post, noting that “ ‘Orthodox’ Russia is destroying Orthodox shrines.”
Russia has denied attacking the lavra, although Mr. Zelenskyy noted in an official statement that “it has been confirmed that two Russian drones deliberately targeted the part of the city” where 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 15 June post on X (formerly Twitter) that Russia’s attack on the cathedral was “another Russian crime against humanity, against history, against Christianity.
“What more must the Kremlin Antichrist do for the world to realize that decisive action must be taken so that the Russian terror against Ukraine and the very principles of peace comes to an end?” he said.
Invoking the Virgin Mary as “God-bearer,” he implored, “Most Holy Theotokos, stop Herod!”
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 organizations that suffered today, adding, “and not only in Kyiv.”
“May God give us the strength to restore the life destroyed in all the affected areas and not allow us to become ill with hatred, a thirst for death and destruction — that terrible disease that has taken hold of our northeastern neighbors,” he said.
Russia’s war on Ukraine, which continues attacks first launched in 2014, has been classified as a genocide in multiple reports by the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy and The Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights with more than 700 religious sites in Ukraine damaged or destroyed due to Russian attacks.