The destruction of cultural heritage is a war crime. Under international humanitarian law, parties to an armed conflict are obliged to protect and respect cultural property.
Gunn Jorid Roset
Norad Director General
Ukraine: Fighting to Protect World Heritage
The over 1,000-year-old Kyiv Pechersk Lavra Monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was severely damaged in a Russian missile strike.
On Monday, 15 June, the more than 1,000-year-old Kyiv Pechersk Lavra Monastery caught fire after being struck by a Russian missile. Norway stands with Ukraine in protecting and rebuilding World Heritage sites and cultural heritage.
The monastery, which has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1990, has suffered extensive damage.
– According to estimates from our experts – assuming everything proceeds smoothly – reconstruction and restoration could take around two years, said Maksym Ostapenko, Director of the monastery complex.
Firefighters work to bring a blaze under control at the Mystetskyi Arsenal Museum of Arts in Kyiv.
Photo: Oleksii Filippov/AFP/NTB
Founded in 1015, Kyiv Pechersk Lavra is a historic centre of Orthodox Christianity in Eastern Europe. The UNESCO World Heritage List recognises sites of outstanding cultural and natural value to humanity. Since 2023, the monastery has also been included on UNESCO's List of World Heritage in Danger.
More than 80 per cent of the cathedral roof was destroyed in the fire, but firefighters succeeded in preventing the flames from spreading into the church itself.
UNESCO has condemned the attack on 15 June.
Kyiv Pechersk Lavra was founded in the 11th century.
Photo: Zhanna Sirkovych /UNESCO
– This is one of Ukraine's most important spiritual and cultural landmarks," says Chiara Dezzi Bardeschi, Head of UNESCO's Office in Ukraine.
Protecting World Heritage is about more than preserving buildings and monuments. With its rich and proud history, Ukraine is home to numerous cultural heritage sites. The country has eight sites inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
– World Heritage sites have outstanding universal value. They are part of a shared heritage that matters not only to Ukraine but to all humanity. That is why protecting them is essential – to preserve history, safeguard cultural identity, and ensure that communities retain the places they need to recover and maintain their connection with the past, says Bardeschi.
Chiara Dezzi Bardeschi, Head of UNESCO's Office in Ukraine, visited the monastery after the fire.
Photo: Zhanna Sirkovych /UNESCO
The monastery also suffered extensive damage during the Second World War. The Dormition Cathedral, the principal church of the Lavra, was almost completely destroyed before being rebuilt in the 1990s.
Cultural heritage under attack
The monastery is the latest in a long line of cultural heritage sites damaged in Russian attacks.
Photo: Zhanna Sirkovych /UNESCO
Since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022, UNESCO has taken a range of measures to protect Ukraine's World Heritage sites from missile and drone attacks. Norway supports UNESCO's Heritage Emergency Fund, which has helped protect and restore cultural heritage in Ukraine and elsewhere.
– Statues are being wrapped for protection, and historic buildings are being safeguarded as best they can during the ongoing war. But this is not enough. Nearly 540 cultural heritage sites have suffered significant damage, including religious sites, buildings of historical or artistic importance, monuments and libraries, says Norad Director General Gunn Jorid Roset.
Norad Director General Gunn Jorid Roset visited Kyiv in the winter of 2025.
Photo: Ida Wullum-Lindberg/Norad
UNESCO continues to monitor the situation and publish verified assessments of damage to cultural sites. In Kyiv alone, 53 cultural heritage sites have been damaged, including numerous churches, monuments and libraries.
A war crime
Archives and museums are also at risk of being looted, with irreplaceable cultural artefacts often trafficked through criminal networks.
– Cultural heritage is an essential part of people's identity, history and shared heritage. That is why we support Ukraine in its efforts to safeguard its tangible cultural heritage. We are helping to protect and rebuild buildings and monuments. This also strengthens resilience, says Roset.
In addition to supporting UNESCO's work, Norway provides funding for culture through the Nansen Support Programme for Ukraine. Norway also supports the Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine (PFRU) and its Culture for Recovery programme, which supports the preservation of cultural heritage, commemorative initiatives, and projects that document and communicate people's experiences of the war.