Switzerland providing over $700,000 to restore Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra after Russian attack
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Switzerland will provide 600,000 Swiss francs ($730,000) through UNESCO to help preserve and restore the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, one of Ukraine's most important historic and religious symbols, damaged in a Russian attack in June, Swiss Federal Council Delegate Jacques Gerber announced on Aug. 16.
Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) said a Russian Shahed-type drone struck the Lavra's Dormition Cathedral, part of the broader UNESCO World Heritage Site, during the June 15 attack. The strike damaged parts of the cathedral, while firefighters contained the resulting blaze before it caused major structural damage.
The day after the attack, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Switzerland had agreed to help restore the 975-year-old Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra following talks with Swiss President Guy Parmelin.
“While Russia seeks to destroy Ukraine’s cultural heritage and erase our identity, our partners stand with us in protecting and preserving it for future generations,” Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X after taking part in a ceremony marking the Lavra's 975th anniversary on Aug. 15.
Switzerland's Lavra contribution is part of its broader support for Ukraine's reconstruction. The country has committed 5 billion Swiss francs ($6.1 billion) to Ukraine's recovery and reconstruction through 2036, including 1.5 billion francs ($1.8 billion) through 2028.
Switzerland has historically maintained military neutrality, but it has adopted EU sanctions against Russia and has frozen at least $8.8 billion in Russian assets. The country has also provided substantial humanitarian, economic and reconstruction assistance to Ukraine since the full-scale invasion.
The Swiss government says those measures are compatible with neutrality because Switzerland does not militarily favor either party. A Swiss law prevents the export of Swiss weapons to combat zones, even when supplied by an intermediary country.
