Dormition Cathedral

Dormition Cathedral in Kiev is one of the most imposing and spectacular churches in the world. On June 15, in a Russian attack condemned worldwide as sacrilegious, the roof of the cathedral burned, as firefighters hosed water on it. Underneath the compromised structure, priests scrambled to keep sacred relics and icons from further damage, racing against the danger of a collapse. Ukrainian officials estimate that restoring the damage will cost 10 million euros. It was one of the most ruthless heartless attacks by the Russians. In the first days of the war, when Ukrainians blocked streets to other sacred and cultural places with piled sandbags in front of vulnerable windows and doors, Dormition Cathedral remained opened, a symbol of defiance and hope. Worshippers came in steadily, genuflected multiple times, kissed icons, lit candles, and prayed for their country and the people fighting for it. The church provided them the peaceful comfort of rituals, like rock on which Christ promised to build his Church.

Putin’s attack on Dormition Cathedral reminded us when the Soviets destroyed the 900-year-old original in 1941, when Stalin’s retreating army booby-trapped much of Kyiv as the Nazis approached.  The war in Ukraine is a Soviet-style war on Christianity. Putin’s army has destroyed more than 700 churches and religious facilities, according to a recent tally. It began when the Russians rolled into Chernihiv from Belarus in February of 2022. They blew up the 11th-century Transfiguration Cathedral and the 18th-century St. Catherine’s Cathedral in the very first days of the war. Two years ago, they bombed and ransacked Odesa’s Transfiguration Cathedral. Last June, they hit Holy Wisdom Church at St. Sophia’s Cathedral in Kyiv with a drone. In March, a ballistic missile damaged a 15th-century monastery and St. Andrew’s Church in Lviv. All of them, like the Dormition Cathedral at Pechersk Lavra, are UNESCO heritage sites.