Up to seven people were killed and up to 13 injured in a large-scale Russian drone attack on Kyiv and Odesa on Tuesday, which also damaged the historic Holy Wisdom Cathedral, also known as St Sophia Cathedral. Source: OSV News.
The five-hour assault, in which Russia fired more than 315 drones, was “one of the biggest” strikes on Ukraine’s capital in the three-year war, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Ukrainian Culture Minister Mykola Tochytskyi said a blast damaged the cornice on the main apse of the cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which serves as the mother church of all Christians who trace their roots to ancient Rus, Catholics and Orthodox.
Grand Prince Volodymyr of Kyivan Rus’ accepted Christianity in its Byzantine form in the 10th century. Construction of the cathedral began in the 11th century.
“Last night’s massive drone attack – the largest of the war – struck at the heart of Ukraine: the Cathedral of the Holy Wisdom, also known as St Sophia,” Metropolitan Borys A Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia said.
“This sacred place has withstood invasions and communist persecution for a thousand years,” he continued. “Like Notre Dame in Paris, St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City, and St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, St Sophia holds unique spiritual symbolism and moral significance for the nation.”
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and relentless daily bombings spare nothing and no one,” he said, noting the killing of innocent civilians. More than 4000 schools, about 1600 medical facilities and 236,000 residential buildings have been damaged or destroyed in this war, he said.
Archbishop Gudziak called for “those who understand” to pray for “a just, lasting peace” that “guarantees the safety of innocent people, the protection of their churches, their identity, and way of life, and the return of tens of thousands of abducted children.”
The Ukrainian Council of Churches also issued a statement condemning the attack on the cathedral and appealing to “the entire civilised world to take all necessary measures to stop the barbarism perpetrated by the Russian Federation”.
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Kyiv’s historic cathedral damaged in Russian air strikes (By Barb Fraze, OSV News)
