Iryna Plekhova steadied herself as she walked over the remains of family possessions - charred books, blackened icons and a rosary partially melted by fire - in her Kyiv apartment after a Russian airstrike on Thursday. The rosary, she said, had been a gift from Pope Francis.
"We don’t have anything left," said Plekhova, a 42-year-old cultural manager. "Everything was totally burned." The strike, described by local accounts as among the heaviest on the capital in more than four years of conflict, killed 30 people and caused widespread damage across Kyiv.
The blast and ensuing fire destroyed personal items Plekhova and her husband, a film director, had gathered over many years. The couple’s residence stood close to the nation’s largest film archive - an institution that historically housed works by Ukrainian filmmakers - and the building had suffered minor damage in an earlier June 15 attack. Debris from Thursday’s bombardment ignited flames that spread through much of the structure.
Losses reported by the family included roughly 5,000 older books, a religious icon kept by Plekhova’s grandmother since World War Two, and DVDs containing old footage the couple had intended to donate to the archive. As she sorted through the rubble, dressed in a disposable medical smock, Plekhova noticed a slightly singed plaque with Ukraine’s coat of arms resting on a shattered windowsill and offered a small smile.
"Oh my lord, look what’s left - I’ll take it," she said, pointing toward a corner where she noted a Ukrainian flag had once hung. The scene underscored the personal and cultural toll of the attack as family heirlooms and archival material were reduced to ash.
Attacks by Russian forces since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022 have repeatedly harmed Ukrainian cultural sites and institutions, officials and residents say, striking museums, churches and other heritage locations. Last month, Ukraine reported significant damage to the Dormition Cathedral in the Pechersk Lavra complex, one of the country’s most sacred sites.
Plekhova and other Ukrainians interviewed after the latest strike said they view the pattern of strikes as an effort to erase Ukrainian culture. Moscow has responded to such criticism by saying its strikes are aimed at targets connected to Ukraine’s war effort.
Context limitations - Details in this account reflect the observations and statements included in reporting from the scene. Where information is limited in the material provided, those limitations are retained rather than filled in with unverified detail.