UNESCO monastery in Lviv hit by Russian strike; experts confirm minor church damage, nearby homes destroyed, and rebuilding under way.
Newsroom (26/03/2026 Gaudium Press ) In the heart of Ukraine’s Catholic region, a centuries-old symbol of faith and history has become the latest casualty of war. The Bernardine Monastery, a 400-year-old UNESCO World Heritage site in Lviv, suffered damage after Russian missile strikes on March 24, marking what experts call one of the most significant cultural assaults of the conflict so far.
“This happens a lot,” Steven Moore, executive producer of the documentary A Faith Under Siege, told EWTN News Nightly in a live interview from Kyiv on March 25. “St. Andrew’s, a Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church located within the monastery grounds, is probably the most historic church they have targeted so far.”
According to Moore, Russia’s systematic targeting of religious sites extends beyond Catholic or Protestant institutions — Orthodox churches have also been struck. He framed these acts as part of a larger campaign driven by the Kremlin’s religious nationalism, describing it as a “holy war” endorsed by the Russian Orthodox hierarchy.
“Patriarch Kirill, their version of the pope, has said, ‘If you die fighting in Ukraine, all your sins will be washed away,’” Moore explained. He added that President Vladimir Putin’s rhetoric has positioned the Russian Orthodox Church closer ideologically to Islam than to Catholicism, revealing a deliberate fusion of politics, religion, and warfare.
Damage Assessment and Restoration Efforts
Following the attack, an inspection of the Bernardine Monastery complex was completed in Lviv. According to Yevhen Boiko, chief of staff of the Executive Committee of the Lviv City Council, experts determined that the church itself sustained only minor damage. However, a nearby residential building was declared unsafe and unfit for habitation.
“Inside, sections of the building have collapsed, landings have been destroyed, and some historical features have been lost. Signs of an intense fire are also visible,” Boiko reported. “The building is unsafe and unfit for habitation. Parts of the structure are at risk of collapsing later.”
While the monastery’s main structure was largely protected, the attack shattered four of its sixteen stained-glass windows and slightly damaged another. “Most of them were saved by protection that had been installed in advance,” Boiko added. The bell tower, built in 1734, also suffered damage, and eight windows in the adjacent archive building were broken by the blast.
Restoration teams are now boarding up windows and dismantling fragile stained-glass sections for preservation. The Office for the Protection of Cultural Heritage has begun a detailed assessment and is preparing plans for repair and conservation.
Built in the 17th century as part of Lviv’s defensive system, the Bernardine Monastery is a major historical and architectural landmark that blends Renaissance and Baroque styles. Today, it houses the Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine in Lviv — one of the largest archival institutions in Central and Eastern Europe. The archive holds a vast collection of documents dating from the 12th to the early 20th century, chronicling the history of Ukraine and much of Europe.
A Global Web of Conflict
Moore contextualized the strike within a broader web of escalating global conflicts. He pointed to rising tensions involving Iran, predicting an upward push in oil prices that could benefit Russia — or, as he put it, “a gas station with an army.” Extra revenues, Moore said, could further fuel Moscow’s war machine in Ukraine.
“We’re in a mess as a world right now,” Moore warned. “The war in the Middle East, the war in Ukraine — and China is backing all of this. North Korea is waiting to go into South Korea; there’s tens of thousands of North Korean troops fighting in Ukraine right now.”
Yet amid growing global peril, Moore found a sliver of strategic optimism. He suggested that the outbreak of conflict against Iran could weaken cooperation between Tehran and Moscow. Iran has supplied Russia with Shahed drones, unmanned aerial vehicles that have become a notorious feature of Russian attacks.
“The good news about this invasion into Iran is that it will limit their ability to cooperate with the Russians,” Moore said.
Ukraine’s Rapid Drone Innovation
As the war drags on, Ukraine’s defense forces have evolved into some of the world’s leading experts in drone warfare. Moore noted that Ukrainian engineers have even traveled to the Middle East to assist in countering similar Russian weapons.
“American weapons are built with an innovation cycle of months or years,” he said. “Here in Ukraine, the innovation cycle is days or weeks. No one in the world right now is as good at drone warfare and anti-drone warfare as the Ukrainians.”
Reordering the Global Chessboard
Moore also highlighted the geopolitical realignment triggered by conflicts involving Russia and its allies. He referenced the toppling of pro-Russian regimes in Venezuela and Syria during the Trump administration, arguing that such developments weaken Moscow’s grip on its global network.
“When we’re looking at a global war, taking pieces off the board for the bad guys is a really positive thing in the long run,” he concluded.
The partial destruction of the Bernardine Monastery stands as more than a loss of art and architecture; it is a spiritual and cultural wound. As Lviv begins the slow work of repair, the damaged stained glass and shattered windows echo a deeper truth of this war: even history itself is under siege.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from CNA and Ukrainska Pravda
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