Church of St Nicholas damaged in Russian missile strike on Kyiv – photos

The Church of St Nicholas, a national architectural monument, has been damaged during a Russian missile strike on Kyiv on Friday, 20 December.

Source: Father Pavlo Vyshkovskyi, parish priest of the Church of St Nicholas, in an interview with UP.Kultura

The windows in the towers of the church have been shattered, and the stained glass windows were also damaged.

Quote: "The rose window has been damaged, that is, the largest flower in the centre [meaning the large circular window above the entrance, a traditional feature of Gothic churches]. No plasterwork was harmed, only the stained-glass windows were shattered. The windows in the towers were also smashed," Father Pavlo said.

He said the parishioners have gathered in the church, ready to clear the debris from the attack, but they are waiting for a commission from the Ministry of Culture to assess and document the damage.  

Father Pavlo added that a representative from the National Organ and Chamber Music Hall, the custodian of the church building, has advised them not to touch anything until the commission had completed its work.

"We've been waiting for the commission from the Ministry of Culture since the morning, but they haven't arrived yet. We can't do anything ourselves. We need to cover them [the windows], at least a little, because it's getting cold. But for now, we have to wait," Father Pavlo Vyshkovskyi said.

The church issued a statement that despite the damage, everyone is invited to attend Christmas Mass on 24 and 25 December. "This will be a demonstration of our fortitude, the fact that nothing and no one will steal Christmas from us," Father Pavlo said. 

The Church of St Nicholas is one of two Roman Catholic churches in Kyiv built before 1917. It was constructed between 1899 and 1909 in the Neo-Gothic style by the Kyiv architect Vladyslav Horodetskyi.

Since 2009, the church has been in a state of disrepair, with activists frequently highlighting that parts of the façade have been falling off.

In 2021, there was a fire in the church. After that the Ministry of Culture promised to hand the church over to the community of believers, but as of December 2024, this had not occurred.

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