Metropolitan Nahum of Ruse
Metropolitan Nahum of Ruse has strongly condemned the Russian strike that caused fire damage to the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra in Ukraine, describing the attack as “senseless aggression” and saying the wider military actions in Kyiv amount to “barbarism.”
The remarks followed a large-scale Russian attack earlier this week that reportedly set parts of the historic monastery complex ablaze. The site is one of Ukraine’s most significant cultural and religious landmarks and is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the strike “one of Russia’s greatest crimes against Christian culture,” while Moscow has denied targeting the monument.
In an official statement published by the Holy Metropolis of Ruse on the Bulgarian Orthodox Church website, Metropolitan Nahum said developments in Kyiv were increasingly taking on an unacceptable character. “With great sorrow and anxiety, we are following the disastrous military actions in Kyiv, which are increasingly taking on a dimension bordering on barbarism, encroaching not only on human life, but also on the priceless cultural and spiritual heritage of peoples,” the statement reads.
He added that the destruction of cultural and historical heritage reflects what he described as reckless violence that will ultimately be remembered negatively in history. “We are witnessing an illogical and senseless aggression that is destroying the cultural and historical heritage in the name of reckless human ego,” Nahum said.
