Switzerland to Provide $730,000: Switzerland Will Fund the Reconstruction of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra
16 August 18:12
Switzerland will provide approximately $730,000 for the preservation and restoration of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, whose Assumption Cathedral was damaged two months ago during one of the Russian strikes. According to [Komersant], Ukraine’s Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Andriy Sibiga announced this on the social media platform X.
“I welcome Switzerland’s decision to allocate approximately $730,000 for the preservation of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of Ukraine’s most important spiritual and cultural landmarks,” Sibiga emphasized.
According to the minister, this support is particularly significant today. After all, just two months before the Lavra’s 975th anniversary, Moscow deliberately struck this centuries-old shrine.
“While the Russian Federation seeks to destroy Ukraine’s cultural heritage and erase our identity, our partners stand with us in defending and preserving it for future generations,” Sibiga added.
Earlier, Jacques Gerber, the Swiss Federal Council’s delegate for Ukraine, announced that Switzerland would provide 600,000 francs (approximately $730,000—ed.) through UNESCO for the protection and restoration of the shrine.
“I am grateful to Switzerland for this tangible expression of solidarity and to Jacques Gerber, the Swiss Federal Council’s delegate for Ukraine, for joining us in Kyiv on the occasion of this important anniversary. Together, we are protecting Ukraine’s heritage and a priceless part of Europe’s and the world’s cultural heritage,” Sibiga said.
As a reminder, on the night of June 15, a Russian drone struck the Assumption Cathedral of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra—the complex’s main church and a UNESCO World Heritage Site—with precision.
A fire broke out in the cathedral, damaging the iconostasis, murals, and frescoes. Within a week, rescue workers had completed emergency repairs to the cathedral’s roof.
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