As Russia has struggled to advance on the battlefield in Ukraine, its attacks have increasingly fallen on the civilian population — on homes, hospitals, and houses of worship. Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, has borne much of this weight. When armies cannot win on the front, they sometimes turn against the people themselves.

In mid-June 2026, Russian missile and drone attacks on Kyiv severely damaged the Dormition Cathedral, a 950-year-old cathedral and monastery that had stood for nearly a millennium — a place of prayer, memory, and Ukrainian identity.

As world leaders gather at the G7 this week, may they carry with them an image of the Dormition Cathedral — its ancient stones, its silenced bells. What endures in Ukraine is not only a fight for territory, but for the right of a people to keep their history, their faith, and their future intact. Remember the Cathedral. And remember what it means to stand with those who refuse to let it be forgotten.