UOC comments on strike on Lavra's Dormition Cathedral

Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. Photo: Information and Education Department of the UOC

On June 15, 2026, Metropolitan Clement of Nizhyn and Pryluky, head of the UOC Information and Education Department, issued an official comment in connection with the overnight attack on the Lavra. This was reported by the UOC Information Center.

“The Ukrainian Orthodox Church resolutely condemns Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, which has resulted in the deaths of thousands of people and the destruction of holy sites,” the hierarch stated. “God does not bless wars. He Himself offered Himself as a sacrifice for humanity in order to grant it eternal life.”

The hierarch recalled that the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra is, above all, “a place of prayer, a center of God’s special presence in the world.” For many years, the monastery’s monks restored the Lavra from oblivion after the destruction of the Soviet period. “What came under fire was not simply a building, but a shrine,” Metropolitan Clement stressed.

“The wounds received by the Dormition Cathedral this night reflect the deep tragedy of the entire Ukrainian people,” Metropolitan Clement stated. “The people, too, have been wounded by a war that has long since crossed every possible moral boundary. Yet we believe that what has been destroyed will be rebuilt once again, and that our people, with God’s help, will again endure these trials.”

The tragedy at the Lavra, he said, urges all Christians to pray more fervently for “an immediate end to the madness of war.” The hierarch added that there is “no justification whatsoever” for this bloodshed.

As the UOJ reported, the Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra caught fire as a result of the Russian attack.

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