Russia Strikes Kyiv Again - Monastery of the Caves Catches Fire in Overnight Attack

[BlueFalcon]

In one of the most disturbing attacks of the war so far, Russia launched a large-scale overnight assault on Ukraine on Monday that killed five rescue workers in Kharkiv and wounded at least 20 people in Kyiv. The attack involved a wave of ballistic missiles followed by Shahed drones as residents across the capital sought shelter underground. The most significant damage beyond the human toll was at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, the Monastery of the Caves, a UNESCO World Heritage site first built in the 11th century. The roof of the Dormition Cathedral caught fire during the overnight attack and rescue workers were photographed fighting the blaze at the sprawling complex that includes underground caves spanning more than 600 metres.

Metropolitan Epiphanius, head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, condemned the strike as another Russian crime against humanity, against history, against Christianity and appealed for prayers to save the site. The monastery is one of the most significant pilgrimage sites in the Orthodox world and the attack on it carries obvious symbolic weight beyond the physical damage. The five rescuers killed in Kharkiv were hit by a second Russian strike as they fought a blaze caused by an earlier attack, a deliberate tactic of targeting emergency responders that has become a pattern in the conflict. The attack came on the same day the US and Iran announced their peace deal, which means it received significantly less attention than it would have on a quieter news day.

The monastery has survived Mongol invasions, Ottoman threats, Tsarist suppression and Soviet destruction attempts. What does its targeting represent and how should the international community respond?

[ThreadNecro]

The deliberate targeting of rescue workers fighting fires is one of the most consistently horrifying aspects of this war and it still does not get the coverage it deserves. These are people trying to save lives who are being killed specifically because they are doing that