Ukraine assesses damage to ancient monastery in Kiev

Firefighters and workers were trying to salvage what was left today after Ukraine said a targeted Russian attack caused a fire and severely damaged a nearly 1,000-year-old monastery in Kiev, famous for its historic frescoes and silver objects.

The attack set fire to the roof of the Assumption Monastery, which is part of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra monastery complex, a symbol of Ukrainian spiritual and cultural history, whose golden domes have risen above the capital for centuries.

First Deputy Minister of Culture Ivan Verbicki told Ukrainian television that the most valuable religious relics had been evacuated.

Although the roof was badly burned, the structure and walls of the church were preserved, he said, adding that the iconostasis - a richly decorated partition that separates the main space of the church from the altar - did not suffer significant damage.

Huge clouds of black smoke rose above the golden domes in the early hours of today as firefighters used cranes and helicopters to douse the flames with water. The fire was extinguished by 9am local time.

Inside the cathedral, water flowed down the painted walls as workers tried to salvage what they could. Employees removed some of the furniture and collected water that had accumulated on the floor, with concerns for delicate frescoes and religious artifacts.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the attack on the complex as "one of Russia's most serious crimes against Christian culture to date."

Ukraine's SBU security service said it had found fragments of a Geran-2 drone, a Russian kamikaze drone, at the site of the attack and released photos of the remains. Reuters could not independently confirm the information.

Russia denied targeting the monastery and said it was damaged by a missile from the US Patriot air defense system.

Historical legacy

This is not the first time that the site has been hit in the current war, Reuters reminds us.

"The Kiev-Pechersk Lavra was first hit in the winter, but last night marked the first deliberate, precise strike," the complex's general director, Maksim Ostapenko, told Reuters. "It's also the first time we've seen damage of this scale."

"We are currently seeing severe damage to all the upper parts of the monastery. There is a great risk to the part below - the paintings, the frescoes, the iconostasis."

Ostapenko pointed to the silver plates, which he said were found during excavations after the cathedral was blown up in 1941 on the orders of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.

About 80 percent of the cathedral was destroyed in that explosion and rebuilt 25 years ago, and the restoration of the iconostasis was only completed last year, he said.

"This is one of the most famous examples of Ukrainian cultural and historical heritage that Russia is deliberately targeting in order to destroy," Ostapenko said.