- Category
- War in Ukraine
80% of Uspensky Cathedral Roof Damaged After Russian Drone Strike on Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra Complex
Prefer U24 Media on Google
- Authors
![Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko]( "Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko")
A Russian overnight strike on June 15 caused severe damage to the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra religious complex, with 80% of the roof of the Uspensky Cathedral affected, Ukraine’s Vice Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy and Minister of Culture Tetiana Berezhna said in a televised statement.
According to Ukrinform on June 16, Berezhna said the attack was part of a wider wave of strikes affecting multiple cultural sites.
We bring you stories from the ground. Your support keeps our team in the field.
“If we talk about last night, I mentioned 13 sites. This included an attack on the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, and a Shahed drone hit the altar part of the Uspensky Cathedral — the Stefaniv side chapel. And currently, 80% of the roof of the Uspensky Cathedral has been damaged. These are the data we are receiving at the moment,” she said.
Berezhna added that the targeted drone strike on the Lavra also affected several other cultural institutions, including the treasury of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine, the Museum of Books and Printing, the National Historical Library of Ukraine, the National Academy of Managerial Staff of Culture and Arts, and the storage facility of the National Museum of Folk Architecture and Rural Life.
She noted that while windows and doors were damaged at some of the sites, the exhibits themselves were not affected.
“No human casualties or injuries have been reported. An assessment of the damage and documentation of the consequences of the attack is currently ongoing,” she said.
Russia’s overnight strikes on June 14–15 caused extensive damage to some of Ukraine’s most important cultural and historical sites, with reported impacts on UNESCO-listed landmarks, museums, and artistic institutions across the country.
Ukraine’s Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said the strike extended beyond civilian infrastructure and was deliberately aimed at the country’s cultural and religious heritage.
“Today’s attack was aimed not only at killing and injuring civilians. The occupiers directed drones and missiles against history, religion, art, and education,” Klymenko wrote on Telegram.
Alongside the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, the Dovzhenko Film Studio in Kyiv’s Shuliavka district was hit twice during the attack.
Following the strikes, the largest and oldest costume archive in Ukraine, housed at the Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Film Studio, was completely destroyed, studio CEO Andrii Donchyk said during an appearance on the Breakfast with 1+1 programme.
He noted that the facility stored around 100,000 costumes and roughly three million individual clothing items. The attack also caused damage to several other buildings and infrastructure across the studio complex.
“This is a unique collection, and it has been completely destroyed. Cossack costumes, clothing associated with Bohdan Khmelnytsky, and numerous historical artefacts have been lost. Everything was stored here,” Donchyk said.
He added that the losses also included costumes used in landmark Ukrainian films such as Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, as well as other historically and culturally significant wardrobe items and artefacts.
Additionally, the large-scale Russian attack on June 15 resulted in 30 people being injured, among them two children aged five and six. Meanwhile, the death toll in the capital has risen to five following the extensive strike.
Discuss this article:
