Russian strike on Kyiv destroys Dovzhenko Film Studio's costume collection
A Russian missile and drone attack on June 15 damaged the Dovzhenko Film Studio, destroying Ukraine's oldest costume collection, and set fire to the roof of the Assumption Cathedral at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.
Attack on Kyiv
In the early hours of June 15, Russian forces struck Kyiv with missiles and drones, hitting nearly every district of the city. The attack damaged the world-renowned Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, a UNESCO World Heritage site, setting the roof of its Assumption Cathedral on fire. It also sparked a blaze at Ukraine's largest film studio, the Alexander Dovzhenko Film Studio.
Cultural heritage destroyed
According to film producer Alexander Rodnyansky, writing for Meduza, the attack completely destroyed the costume workshop and Ukraine's largest and oldest collection of costumes. The strike also shattered windows in administrative buildings and damaged one of Europe's largest sound stages. Rodnyansky emphasizes that the Dovzhenko Studio is not merely a production facility but a key cultural symbol of 20th-century Ukraine.
History of the studio
Founded in 1928, the studio produced most classic Ukrainian films of the Soviet era, from Dovzhenko's "Earth" (1930) to the beloved "Only 'Old Men' Are Going into Battle" (1973). It gained particular fame in the 1960s-70s as the center of Ukrainian Poetic Cinema, a movement European critics compare to Italian neorealism and the French New Wave. However, Soviet authorities condemned it as too "national," banning many films for decades.
Personal connection
Rodnyansky has a deep personal connection to the studio: he was born in Kyiv and studied at the Kyiv National I. K. Karpenko-Kary Theater, Cinema, and Television University, then located on the Lavra grounds. His father died of a heart attack at the studio at age 39. "So this is what Russia's 'denazification' and 'demilitarization' look like," Rodnyansky writes.
