With its attack on the Lavra, Russia has proven that it is not Rus' – Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

The Russian attack on the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, which took place on the night of June 15, demonstrated that the Russian Federation has no connection to the heritage of Rus’, that Kyiv is not Russian territory, and that the history of the Kyiv-Pechersk holy sites is not connected to Moscow’s piety. 

This was stated by the Primate of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, His Beatitude Sviatoslav.

The head of the church drew attention to the profound irony: the attack on the Assumption Cathedral took place precisely on the day when Ukrainians were honoring All Saints of the Ukrainian People and the ascetics of the Kyiv Church, while in the Russian Federation they were celebrating the feast of “All Saints Who Shone Forth in the Russian Land.” His Beatitude Sviatoslav emphasized that with this barbaric fire attack on the main shrine, the invaders have forever negated their own claims to the legacy of Kyiv Christianity.