The UNESCO-recognized Pechersk-Lavra monastic complex dating from the 11th century comprises multiple monastic buildings and bell towers, and its 600-metre network of catacombs contains chapels, relics and tombs of the monks.

(Shutterstock)
Gauvin Alexander Bailey, Queen’s University, Ontario

The tragic loss of life and desperate living conditions caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine have gripped the world?s attention.
However, another threat looms for the country?s heritage architecture, including United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage monuments of global significance.
These buildings lie directly in the line of fire as Russian forces advance on Kyiv and increase bombardments near Lviv. UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay has called for the protection of these testimonies to the country?s ?rich history.? Medieval, baroque monuments
Among the UNESCO World Heritage monuments in immediate danger of destruction is the irreplaceable 11th-century cathedral of St. Sophia in Kyiv. It is the most important Christian monument of Kievan Rus (862-1242), the first eastern Slavic state, and is dangerously close to Independence Square where trucks have unloaded sand in anticipation of a possible Russian assault.
St. Andrew?s Church (1744-67), a baroque monument of global importance, is was more than one-third Jewish, but the Jewish community was nearly annihilated in the Holocaust. As historian Jeffrey Veidlinger writes, ?...