Russia hits Kyiv Pechersk Lavra facilities on Jan 24
On the night of January 24, 2026, the objects of the National Reserve Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, were damaged as a result of a massive Russian missile and drone attack on Kyiv, said the reserve’s general director, Maksym Ostapenko.
"For the first time since World War II, the object of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra was hit as a result of military operations. Every time, Moscow is behind this, as it was in 1918; as it was when, on orders from Moscow, the Assumption Cathedral was blown up in 1941, and on orders from Moscow, Shaheds and missiles are now flying over Kyiv, including now causing damage to the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra," Ostapenko said in a comment to the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Monday morning.
In particular, the following buildings were damaged: Building No. 66, the entrance to the Far Caves complex, and Building No. 67 (Annozachatiivska Church).
According to the general director, the blast wave knocked out some of the windows and doors, and fragments of the plaster decoration were damaged in a significant number of places.
At the same time, Ostapenko noted that the caves themselves were not damaged.
According to him, this is the first time that the Lavra has suffered direct damage as a result of an air target explosion. Previously, damage from shrapnel was observed, and some remains of downed objects were found.
The general director also told the agency that due to a power outage, the seismic sensor did not work, which does not allow determining the impact of the explosion on the objects of the reserve.
The cultural heritage site St. Sophia Cathedral and adjacent monastery buildings and the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra has three international statuses: a UNESCO World Heritage Site (since 1990), a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Danger (since 2023), and an object included in the International List of Cultural Properties under Enhanced Protection (since 2023), and the mechanism of enhanced protection of cultural property described in the Second Protocol to the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict applies to it. As reported, the Defense Forces of Ukraine neutralized 15 missiles and 357 enemy UAVs on the night of Saturday, January 24. The hits of 2 missiles and 18 strike UAVs were recorded at 17 locations, as well as the fall of downed UAVs (fragments) at 12 locations.