Shelling of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra: June 2026

The video shows the aftermath of the Russian shelling: a young man is watching; an emergency vehicle with its flashing lights on is driving by; the windows of the shopping arcades are boarded up; Obolon District, thick smoke in the sky; Pechersk District, the roof of the “Mystetskyi Arsenal” is on fire, the fire, firefighters putting out the flames; cordon tape, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve, the Assumption Cathedral, firefighters extinguishing the flames, the cathedral’s charred facade, the shattered, charred roof, destruction, clergymen covering their faces from the smoke; Pecherskyi District, the “Art Arsenal” is on fire, fire, smoke, firefighters extinguishing the fire, flames on the roof; Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve, the Assumption Cathedral, the cathedral’s damaged roof; firefighters entering the cathedral, the floor flooded with water, a clergyman carrying a coat rack, a woman in the cathedral near the candles, shards of glass on the carpet, debris from the roof.

Interview: Ivan Verbytskyi, First Deputy Minister of Culture; Maksym Ostapenko, Director General of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve; a rescue worker; a priest.

Background: A fire broke out on the grounds of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra as a result of the Russian attack on Kyiv on the night of June 15. A Russian drone struck the roof of the Cathedral of the Dormition, damaging a large number of structures in the upper part of the building and several other structures on the reserve’s grounds. The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a monument under enhanced protection under the Second Protocol to the 1954 Hague Convention.

In total, five people were killed and nearly ten others were injured as a result of this attack on Kyiv, including two children.