16.06.2026

The Assumption Cathedral of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra has suffered large-scale destruction twice in its history, and in both cases this was due to totalitarian regimes and the aggression of the authorities in the Kremlin.

Over its long history, this Shrine has survived many invaders and wars, but never in its almost thousand-year history has it been completely destroyed. Only in 1941 did the Kremlin authorities do this, and now, the war criminal Putin has tried to do it.

First, about Putin’s barbarity.

On June 15, 2026, the Russian army launched a massive missile and drone strike on Kyiv, resulting in  a direct hit on the Assumption Cathedral . 

The shell hit the Stephen’s Chapel (altar part) of the cathedral, causing a fire on the roof. The Joan Kushnyk Tower and the neighboring Mystetsky Arsenal complex were also damaged.

The cathedral was saved, but it was destroyed.

That is, Putin did not manage to completely destroy the Ukrainian Shrine as Stalin did in 1941.

Fragment of material about the events of 1941 (published on July 31, 2021).

It will soon be 85 years since that time.

But, on June 15, 2026, Putin committed a new crime against the Ukrainian people, trying to destroy our sanctuary. Time passes, but nothing changes for the Kremlin authorities, they remain the same great-power chauvinists and barbarians they were.

And now a fragment of material about the destruction of the Assumption Cathedral in 1941.

It will soon be 80 years since the day when, on September 24, 1941, NKVD sabotage groups first destroyed the cultural and historical center of Kyiv – Khreshchatyk and the buildings adjacent to it, which were architectural monuments, and then, on November 3, 1941, the Shrine of the Ukrainian nation – the Assumption Cathedral of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. These two events do not coincide in time, but they can be united by one goal – the destruction of the Ukrainian national historical heritage and preventing the rapid growth of the Ukrainian national anti-Bolshevik movement.

It is obvious that in neither the first nor the second case was there any military necessity to destroy the cultural and historical heritage of the Ukrainian people.

This story of mine absolutely does not claim to be a scientific study, in any case.

I was interested in this topic, studied documents and memoirs, and on some issues I formed my own impression, which, after all, is mostly based not on historical facts, but on assumptions.

No one knows the truth about these events yet, because the main documents are in the archives in Moscow. But this does not mean that we cannot express our attitude to these tragic events.

However, certain conclusions can be reached by carefully studying the large volume of historical documents, eyewitness accounts, and expert commentary. My story will be mainly devoted to the destruction of the Assumption Cathedral of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra.

And now about the destruction of the symbol of Ukrainian national pride – the Assumption Cathedral of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

The only thing that is not in dispute is that on November 3, 1941, at approximately 2:30 p.m., it was destroyed by a very powerful explosion. The Assumption Cathedral (Cathedral of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos) is the main cathedral church of the Assumption Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and was built in 1073-1078.

The main shrine of the temple was the icon of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Over the centuries, many prominent Ukrainians were buried here, including Metropolitan Petro Mohyla, Kyiv princes, and other famous people, and in 1081, its founder, Theodosius, was reburied in the cathedral, who was later recognized as a saint.

The cathedral withstood both earthquakes and the Mongol-Tatar invasion, although it was damaged, but it did not withstand the explosives of the Moscow NKVD sabotage groups.

But let’s return to the tragic day – November 3, 1941. Currently, there are several versions of the destruction of the cathedral, each of these versions has its supporters and a certain justification. But the discussion around the destruction of the cathedral does not subside. I will not deeply analyze these versions and retell the subject of the discussion. Those who wish to do so can read all this in historical documents or comments by specialists who have devoted many years of their lives to the search for the truth.

I will only express my assumption about who destroyed the cathedral and what was the purpose of it.

I have no doubt that the shrine of the Ukrainian people was destroyed intentionally, by a special sabotage group of the Moscow NKVD.

There is reliable evidence that it was special groups of sappers who arrived from Moscow who mined all the main historical buildings in the center of Kyiv with radio-controlled landmines, including St. Sophia and Assumption Cathedrals, a few days before the Nazis entered Kyiv. The mining took place secretly.

St. Sophia Cathedral survived due to a lucky coincidence – the equipment did not work, and the Assumption Cathedral was destroyed – although the radio signal did not work, instead a backup destruction option was used – setting fire to a Bicford cord, which caused a super-powerful explosion.

One can understand the military-political leadership that made the decision to mine and destroy all important industrial facilities in Kyiv so that they would not fall to the enemy, but the mining and destruction of the historical and cultural heritage of the Ukrainian people was in no way connected with military expediency.

In Paris, no one blew up the Eiffel Tower to kill ten German soldiers who were marching past the tower.

So, there was another goal, which is why a special sabotage group arrived in Kyiv, including sappers, to destroy the very historical heritage of the Ukrainian people. And if we add to this the destruction of Khreshchatyk, it becomes obvious that this was a planned action against the anti-Bolshevik Ukrainian national movement.

This is precisely why the cultural and historical foundation of the Ukrainian people was being destroyed, here in Kyiv – the spiritual capital of Ukrainians.

Some researchers attribute the destruction of the cathedral to the fact that on November 3, 1941, Hitler’s associate, the President of Slovakia, József Tissot, was supposed to visit the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. He was indeed in the Lavra that day, but the explosions, and there were no less than four of them, and only the fourth super-powerful explosion destroyed the cathedral, at the time of the explosion he had long since left the Lavra.

It is also obvious that such a powerful explosion was organized by an NKVD sabotage group only because the cathedral had been mined before the Nazis arrived.

For such a powerful explosion, a very high power explosive element was required. And it was the members of the sabotage group who launched the mechanism for blowing up the cathedral, setting fire to a Bicford cord in the cathedral as a backup method of detonation, since for unknown reasons the radio-controlled method of detonation did not work. Which prompted me to make assumptions about the real motives for the destruction of the cultural center of Kyiv and the Assumption Cathedral.

Let’s remember Veliky Novgorod, one of the centers of Kievan Rus, during the 12th-15th centuries the capital of the Novgorod Republic. On August 15, 1941, the Nazis entered this city.

But there is no mention in the historical literature that on the eve of the occupation, NKVD sabotage groups mined the main historical monuments of Veliky Novgorod, the construction of which was laid by the Kiev princes during the period of Kievan Rus – for example, St. Sophia Cathedral, the Novgorod Kremlin, etc. And even more so, there is no confirmation that these historical monuments were destroyed by NKVD sabotage groups. No one mined or destroyed these historical monuments of the Kievan Rus period, although they were used by the Nazis for their own needs from the first days of the occupation.

By the way, the Nazis also did not destroy these objects, although they were partially destroyed, but not destroyed, like in Kyiv.

Or let’s take another city in Russia – Vladimir (correctly called Vladimir). This city was also founded by the Kiev princes Vladimir Svyatoslavovich, in whose honor this city was named. Where in 1108 Vladimir Monomakh built a fortress, where in 1157 Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky moved from Vyshgorod and turned this city into the capital of northeastern Russia. This historical city was not occupied by the Nazis, but such a threat was real. And there is no documented evidence that the city, its main historical monuments were mined and prepared for destruction in the event of occupation by special groups of the NKVD.

Other examples can also be given.

The main thing in this is that only Kyiv shrines were mined by sabotage groups, and a significant part of them were subsequently destroyed by these same groups.

The great historical heritage of the Ukrainian people was burned in the flames of the fires. These circumstances give me the opportunity to assume that the main goal of the destruction of the cultural and historical center of Kyiv was not a military and defensive necessity, but a humanitarian sabotage against the Ukrainian people and their cultural and historical values.

It is obvious to me that the Assumption Cathedral was destroyed by an NKVD sabotage group on the direct order of the highest military-political leadership. They wanted to deprive us of our Ukrainian historical roots.

Fortunately, the Assumption Cathedral was revived by the talent of Ukrainian builders and consecrated in 2000.

He stands again at the historical place where Ukrainian identity was born and where the navel of Ukrainians is buried.

There is no doubt that very soon it and the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, like other lauras, will return to the fold of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. And so it will be.

https://www.obozrevatel.com/ukr/novosti-obschestvo/navit-gitler-ne-navazhivsya-znischiti-lavru-tse-zrobiv-spochatku-stalin-a-teper-putin.htm