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The Hidden Canon: Discover Ukrainian literary classics

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'One of the holiest places' — Why Kyiv's ancient Pechersk monastery is so important for Ukraine
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'One of the holiest places' — Why Kyiv's ancient Pechersk monastery is so important for Ukraine

by Kate Tsurkan

The Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, one of Orthodox Christianity's oldest and most sacred monasteries, was among the targets in Russia's latest overnight attack on June 15. Images of the religious site in flames sparked outrage and horror throughout Ukraine and the world. "(T)he roof of one of the holiest places in the Christian world — the Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra — is burning," Metropolitan Epiphanius, head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, wrote on X o

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Attack on Kyiv Pechersk Lavra exposes the truth behind Russia's Christianity

Every empire eventually becomes trapped by its own mythology. Russia happens to be built on a peculiar combination of holy relics, imperial nostalgia, and endless lectures about "traditional values." The problem is that reality keeps interrupting the performance. In 2022, Margarita Simonyan (the Kremlin's propagandist) declared that Russia would never bomb Kyiv because "our shrine is there." The implication being: unlike everyone else, Russia supposedly possesses some special reverence for fait

burning Cathedral during a Russian strike on Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 15, 2026.

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Our reporting on literature, films, art, and traditions from Ukraine and the latest news on culture in Eastern Europe.

Ukrainian culture
Ukrainian culture has survived centuries of Russian attempts to appropriate Ukrainian art, silence Ukrainian artists, and erase the Ukrainian language. Modern Ukrainian writers, filmmakers, and musicians — some of whom are serving on the front lines — continue to develop Ukrainian culture and fight for Ukraine’s future.
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