Russian strike on the Lavra qualified as a violation of the laws and customs of war - Prosecutor General Kravchenko provides details
Kyiv • UNN
Investigation launched into the strike on the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and the Dovzhenko Film Studios. Nearly 2,000 cultural heritage sites have already been damaged in Ukraine.
Following the Russian strike on the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, a pre-trial investigation has been launched into the violation of the laws and customs of war; since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, nearly 2,000 cultural monuments in Ukraine have been damaged or destroyed, over a hundred of which are under UNESCO protection, with more than 240 criminal proceedings already initiated and 15 suspects identified, Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko reported on social media on Monday, UNN reports.
Details
"Russia is at war not only against Ukrainian people and cities. It is at war against our memory, culture, and the right to be ourselves. Overnight, the Russian Federation struck the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, one of the most important shrines and symbols of Ukrainian history. This is not just damage to an architectural monument. It is a blow to our spiritual, cultural, and historical heritage. To what forms the Ukrainian identity and the memory of generations," Kravchenko stated.
Today's targeted actions by the aggressor state against the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra are another war crime by Russia. A pre-trial investigation has been initiated regarding this fact under Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – violation of the laws and customs of war,
The strike on the Lavra, Kravchenko remarked, stands alongside the strikes on the Transfiguration Cathedral in Odesa, the Hryhoriy Skovoroda Museum in the Kharkiv region, the Ivankiv Museum with its collection of works by Maria Prymachenko, the Dovzhenko Film Studios in Kyiv, the House of Organ and Chamber Music in Dnipro, and other symbols of Ukrainian culture.
"This is a deliberate policy of the aggressor state. To destroy what forms Ukrainian identity. To erase our history. To steal our heritage," he wrote.
According to the Prosecutor General, at approximately 01:30, Russian troops launched a strike on the territory of the Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Feature Film Studio in Kyiv.
"According to preliminary data, there was a hit. Debris, likely from two ballistic missiles, was seized at the site. A two-story costume warehouse building was destroyed, and an annex to the filming pavilions, administrative, and production buildings were damaged. Fortunately, there were no fatalities or injuries," Kravchenko indicated.
He emphasized: "This is another blow to Ukrainian culture and our historical memory."
"Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, nearly 2,000 cultural monuments have been damaged or destroyed. More than a hundred of them are sites under the auspices of UNESCO," he reported.
According to Kravchenko, "what Russia cannot destroy with missiles, it steals."
"From 2014 to 2024, the aggressor has stolen or misappropriated over 7.8 million objects of Ukraine's cultural heritage from museums in the temporarily occupied territories. The real scale of the losses may be even greater, as there is still no access to many collection funds," the Prosecutor General reported.
We are documenting every such crime. Over 240 criminal proceedings. Already 15 suspects. And this is just the beginning. Crimes against cultural heritage are also war crimes. They have no statute of limitations. Russia is trying to destroy our memory. Our task is to preserve evidence, identify the perpetrators, and hold them accountable. Every strike. Every looting. Every exported exhibit. Everything will be recorded. Everything will have legal consequences. We continue our work,