A Russian attack overnight damaged Saint Sophia Cathedral in the historic centre of Kyiv, one of Ukraine’s most significant monuments and a designated world heritage site, the Ukrainian Culture Minister said on Tuesday (June 10, 2025).
“Last night, the enemy struck at the very heart of our identity again,” Mykola Tochytskyi wrote on Facebook, calling the 11th-century cathedral “the soul of all Ukraine.”
“Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, a shrine which survived for centuries and symbolises the birth of our statehood, was damaged,” he said.
He added that a blast wave damaged the cornice on the main apse of the landmark. Pieces of white plaster crumbled to the ground with a gap visible in a section of the cornice, Reuters video from the scene showed.
This is the first time since the start of the war that the cathedral has been damaged, first deputy director general of the site Vadym Kyrylenko told reporters. But Russian drones flying close to the ground present a threat amid continuous air attacks on the capital.
