West paints Russia as villain amid Patriot strike: situation around Kiev-Pechersk Lavra

MOSCOW, June 15. /TASS/. French President Emmanuel Macron hasn’t said a single word about Kiev’s continued terror against Russia but wasted no time alleging that Russia was responsible for a strike against the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

The Russian defense ministry said earlier that a missile of the US-made Patriot air defense system hit the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra compound. According to the ministry, the West’s delivery of missiles with expired service life to Ukraine could have caused the system to go rogue and hit the church.

TASS has summed up key facts about the situation

Zakharova’s statements

French President Emmanuel Macron has invented a tall tale about the strike on the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, painting Russia as the villain again, Zakharova said.

She noted that Macron did not say anything about Kiev’s terror attacks: "Nor was there any hint of condolences from them for the numerous civilian casualties from Bankovaya Street’s terrorist attacks against civilians in Russian regions."

According to Zakharova, "France said nothing about the real, not fake, attack on the Siege of Sevastopol panorama."

The West has rushed to fabricate another story where Russia is to blame, she added.

UNESCO reaction

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has said that it is ready to help assess the damage done to the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra after the missile attack.

The organization also condemned the attack on the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.

Russian defense ministry’s statement

The ministry said that a missile of the US-made Patriot air defense system hit the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra compound.

Among the causes of the system’s improper operation, the ministry cited the West’s delivery of missiles whose service life had expired.

Kiev-Pechersk Lavra and the Kiev authorities’ conflict with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

Founded in 1051 by monk Anthony under Grand Prince of Kiev Yaroslav the Wise, the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra is one of Early Russia’s oldest monasteries.

Grand Prince Sviatoslav II Yaroslavocich donated to the monastery a plateau above caves, where stone churches, dormitories, castle towers, and other structures were built.

Its two underground labyrinths, the Near Caves and the Far Caves, feature ancient necropolises, underground chapels, and relics.

The Kiev authorities have been deliberately seeking to push the Ukrainian Orthodox Church out of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.

The schismatic Orthodox Church of Ukraine has begun holding festive services in the monastery’s main church, the Assumption Cathedral.