Overview
- President Volodymyr Zelensky signed Decree No. 726/2026 during the Kyiv‑Pechersk Lavra anniversary on Saturday directing the Cabinet to deliver a draft law on 'national shrines' by August 24.
- The draft law must set clear criteria for designating national shrines, standardize the national list, require extra state protection for listed sites, and create liability for their destruction or damage.
- The decree instructs the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to step up technical UNESCO nominations, to inform the international community about attacks on cultural heritage, and to seek international funding and reparations from the Russian Federation.
- Zelensky used the Lavra ceremony and a new exhibition, attended by UNESCO Director‑General Khaled El‑Enany, to press partners for support while Switzerland pledged 600,000 Swiss francs through UNESCO to help restore the Lavra.
- The measure responds to heavy spring–summer strikes that damaged the Lavra, the Chornobyl Museum and other cultural sites and signals a push for legal accountability, faster restorations and new international protections for Ukraine’s cultural memory.