KYIV — Iryna Plekhova could barely keep her footing as she made her way through the charred remains of her Kyiv home, stepping over burned books, blackened religious icons, and what was left of a melted rosary — a gift, she said, from Pope Francis himself.
The 42-year-old cultural manager surveyed the devastation left behind after a Russian missile and drone attack struck the Ukrainian capital on Thursday. “We don’t have anything left,” she said. “Everything was totally burned.”
The assault was among the most destructive attacks on Kyiv since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, claiming 30 lives and causing damage throughout the city.
Plekhova and her husband, a film director, had spent decades building a collection of cultural artifacts in their apartment, which was located near Ukraine’s largest film archive — a building historically associated with the country’s filmmaking community. A previous Russian strike on June 15 had caused minor damage to the structure, but debris from Thursday’s attack ignited a fire that consumed much of the building.
The couple lost approximately 5,000 antique books, an icon that Plekhova’s grandmother had safeguarded through World War Two, and DVD recordings of archival footage they had intended to donate to the nearby film archive.
Wearing a disposable medical smock as she sifted through the wreckage, Plekhova’s expression briefly brightened when she spotted a lightly damaged plaque bearing Ukraine’s coat of arms resting on a shattered windowsill. “Oh my lord, look what’s left — I’ll take it,” she said, then gestured toward a corner of the room, adding: “And there was also a Ukrainian flag hanging here.”
Russian attacks have repeatedly targeted Ukrainian cultural landmarks throughout the war, striking museums, churches, and historic monuments. Just last month, the Dormition Cathedral at Kyiv’s Pechersk Lavra complex — considered one of the most sacred sites in the country — suffered severe damage in what Ukrainian officials described as a deliberate strike.
Plekhova and many other Ukrainians believe Russia’s actions are part of a deliberate effort to destroy their national identity and cultural heritage. The Russian government, for its part, maintains that its strikes target only military and war-related infrastructure.
