A century of cinema. A morning of missiles. What Russia destroyed at Kyiv’s Dovzhenko Film Studio.

In the early hours of June 15, Russia attacked Kyiv again. Nearly every district of the city was hit — and the roof of the Assumption Cathedral caught fire at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, one of the most important Orthodox religious sites in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A fire also broke out at the National Dovzhenko Film Studio, destroying Ukraine’s oldest collection of costumes. At Meduza’s request, film producer Alexander Rodnyansky wrote about the studio’s significance in the history of Ukrainian and Soviet cinema. For Rodnyansky, the attack is deeply personal: He was born in Kyiv and studied film directing at the Kyiv National I. K. Karpenko-Kary Theater, Cinema, and Television University, whose buildings then stood on the grounds of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.