KYIV, June 16 (Reuters) – Repairs to a nearly 1,000-year-old monastery in Kyiv that was damaged by what Ukraine said was a deliberate Russian strike could take around two years, an official said on Tuesday.
The attack on the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra complex set fire to the roof of the Dormition Cathedral within the vast UNESCO World Heritage site, which is a symbol of Ukraine’s spiritual and cultural history. The monastery’s golden domes have towered over the capital for centuries.
Russia denied on Monday striking the monastery and said it had been damaged by a U.S.-made Patriot air defence missile.
More than 80% of the 11th century cathedral’s roof had been damaged, but firefighters managed to prevent the fire from spreading inside the cathedral, Maksym Ostapenko, director general of the complex, was cited by Interfax Ukraine news agency.
He added that aside from the cathedral and the Ivan Kushchnyk Tower, a further 17 sites at the complex had been affected, with the cost of the damage exceeding 500 million hryvnias ($11.2 million).
Ukraine’s emergency services said that nearly 100 rescuers were working to secure the roof and dismantle damaged parts of the cathedral with specialist engineering equipment.
Workers covered the missing parts of the cathedral’s roof with panels on Tuesday, and secured the windows amid concerns for the fragile frescoes and religious artefacts inside.
Emergency services said two helicopters used more than 97 tons of water on Monday to put out fires across the capital caused by the attack, which killed five people and injured 44.   Â
($1 = 44.8505 hryvnias)
(Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka in Gdansk; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
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