Authorities show Honduran president and U.S. diplomat damage in Kyiv Lavra

Honduran President Nasry Asfura with Ostapenko and Berezhna inside the Dormition Cathedral. Photo: Reserve's Facebook page

Foreign guests visited the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra accompanied by representatives of the Ministry of Culture and Maksym Ostapenko, director general of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve. The visitors included President of the Republic of Honduras Nasry Asfura and U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Spencer Chretien, the Reserve reported on Facebook.

The Honduran president was shown the Dormition Cathedral, where the roof was almost completely destroyed. The guest was also shown fragments of a drone found on the territory of the Lavra immediately after the attack.

At present, employees of the Reserve are carrying out emergency repair and restoration work – workers have already managed to cover about 70% of the damaged roof of the cathedral. In memory of the visit, Nasry Asfura received a publication dedicated to the history and architectural heritage of the cathedral.

For his part, U.S. diplomat Spencer Chretien viewed a panel exhibition presenting the tragic pages in the history of the Lavra’s main cathedral. The exhibition covers the period from the cathedral’s foundation to its destruction in an explosion in 1941 and its subsequent restoration at the end of the 20th century.

A separate section of the exhibition is devoted to the events of June 15 this year. The diplomat was shown fragments of the Dormition Cathedral’s copper roof, scarred by shrapnel, as well as parts of the aircraft that crashed on the territory of the Lavra.

The National Reserve stressed the importance of international partners documenting such destruction, since such strikes are aimed not only at buildings but also at the “historical memory and culture” of the Ukrainian people.

As the UOJ reported, Zelensky showed Trump photos of the burning Dormition Cathedral of the Lavra.

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