Lavra is burning……
The Lavra was founded in 1015. For more than a thousand years, it has watched our history unfold. Long before the Russian Empire, long before the Soviet Union, long before modern politics, it was already standing here.
Generations of Ukrainians walked through its gates. They prayed there, found refuge there, celebrated there, mourned there. Its walls witnessed the births, lives, and deaths of countless people who came before us.
The Lavra is also home to museums holding priceless pieces of our history: ancient manuscripts, icons, centuries-old books, works of art, archaeological treasures, and documents that tell the story of Ukraine across the ages.
Looking at these flames, I don’t just see a building burning.
I see a thousand years of history under attack.
I see another attempt to destroy the things that remind us who we are.
russia wants the world to believe this war is about territory. But every museum destroyed, every library burned, every church damaged tells a different story. This is also a war against memory, culture, and identity.
The people who built the Lavra more than a millennium ago are long gone. The generations that protected it through invasions, occupations, famines, and wars are gone too.
And yet the Lavra remained.
Tonight, seeing it burn is heartbreaking because some things belong to all of us. Not because of faith. Not because of politics. But because they are part of the story of who we are.
A thousand years of history should not have to survive russian missiles in the 21st century.