Drone damage to Kyiv monastery ‘assault on Ukrainian culture’ – Taoiseach

Drone damage to Kyiv monastery ‘assault on Ukrainian culture’ – TaoiseachTaoiseach Micheal Martin was told the ‘iconic’ Lavra monastery was ‘like a phoenix’ in how it has recovered from damage over the centuries.Taoiseach Micheál Martin (second left), accompanied by deputy prime minister and minister of culture of Ukraine Tetyana Berezhna (left), guide Yulia Vizir and Maksym Ostapenko, general director of the National Reserve Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, looks at the damage to the Dormition Cathedral after a Russian drone strike during his visit to Kyiv in Ukraine (Niall Carson/PA)PA Wire

Ireland’s premier has said a Russian attack on a renowned religious site in Kyiv was “an assault on Ukraine’s culture”.

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Micheál Martin was taken on a tour of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, also known as the Monastery of the Caves, as part of his trip to Kyiv on Thursday, where he met with Volodymyr Zelensky and reaffirmed Ireland’s support for Ukrainian sovereignty.

The Unesco-listed World Heritage Site is a sprawling complex of monasteries and gold-domed churches, including some underground, built between the 11th and 19th centuries.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin, deputy prime minister of Ukraine Tetyana Berezhna, guide Yulia Vizir and Maksym Ostapenko, at the Dormition Cathedral (Niall Carson/PA)PA Wire

Mr Martin was told about a drone strike on the monastery’s Dormition Cathedral in June, where significant damage was done to the upper section of the eastern wall, the roof, and the domes of the cathedral.

The Taoiseach was told by the monastery’s officials that it was a “miracle” that it rained that night before more damage was done to the roof and elaborate murals on the ceiling inside.

He was shown a video and photos of the roof of the cathedral on fire and asked the director of the Lavra about conservation and restoration works under way.

It was pointed out to him that murals on one side of the ceiling were darker than the other, in an example of how close the historic structure came to more serious damage.

“It is devastating to see first-hand the impact of Russia’s campaign of aerial attacks in Ukraine,” Mr Martin said after the visit.

“Along with targeting innocent civilians and critical energy infrastructure, Russia’s attack on the Kyiv’s iconic and irreplaceable Lavra is an assault on Ukraine’s culture and history.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Maksym Ostapenko, general director of the Lavra at the Dormition Cathedral (Niall Carson/PA)PA Wire

“It is totally abhorrent and completely unacceptable.”

It is the first time the monastery was targeted in an armed conflict since the Second World War, but it has a long history of being restored.

Guide Yulia Vizir told Mr Martin that the monastery was damaged by an earthquake in 1230, by the Mongol army and nomadic forces, by a large fire in 1718 and had its murals destroyed in 1893, while the cathedral was almost destroyed by Soviet explosions in 1941.

Director general of the National Reserve of the Lavra, Maksym Ostapenko told the Taoiseach during a tour of the site that the building was “like a phoenix”.

“Russia tried to completely erase this history,” Mr Ostapenko told the Taoiseach.

Russia has denied responsibility for the drone attack in June.

The Taoiseach praised Ukrainian resilience and courage against Russian aggression and said Europe needed to be “always conscious” of their suffering.

“The citizens of these major cities, they don’t know when a missile will strike or a drone will strike,” he said, speaking outside a bombed out apartment block in the residential area of Lukianivska.

“That has to be extraordinarily traumatic, so whatever problems we have, they pale in insignificance when you compare it to the trauma Ukrainians experience.”