Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported this on Telegram, as cited by Ukrinform.
“The blaze erupted on the roof of the Dormition Cathedral of Kyiv Pechersk Lavra,” Klitschko wrote.
Head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, Tymur Tkachenko, confirmed that structures within the monastery complex had caught fire, reportedly as a result of a direct strike.
"The extent of the damage caused by the Russians is currently being assessed," Tkachenko said, adding that emergency crews were working to contain the fire in accordance with safety protocols.
He later said that the damage at the Lavra appeared significant and that the fire was serious.
"According to preliminary information, the damage on the Lavra grounds is substantial, with a major fire ongoing. The Russians deliberately struck the heart of one of the largest Christian shrines," Tkachenko said.
Metropolitan Epiphaniy, the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, has condemned the Russian strike on the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra as “another Russian crime against humanity, against history, against Christianity”.
In a post on X, Epiphaniy said that a Russian attack had set the roof of the Dormition Cathedral ablaze, describing it as one of the holiest sites in the Christian world.
"We ask for prayers for the salvation of the shrine from destruction," he wrote.
"What more must the Kremlin Antichrist do for the world to realize that decisive action must be taken so that the Russian terror against Ukraine and the very principles of peace comes to an end? Most Holy Theotokos, stop Herod!” Epiphaniy said.
Read also: Art museum in Kharkiv catches fire after shelling; infant injuredAs reported by Ukrinform, a large-scale Russian drone and
