Ukraine’s Dovzhenko Film Studios damaged in Russian attack for third time this year
Ukraine’s historic Dovzhenko Film Studios in Kyiv was damaged during a Russian missile attack for the third time this year, months after another strike destroyed the country’s largest and oldest film costume collection.
Missile debris pierced the roofs of two filming pavilions at the studio during the overnight attack on Oct. 7, Ukraine’s Culture Ministry said. A fire broke out but was extinguished, and no injuries were initially reported.
The studio, named after pioneering Ukrainian filmmaker Oleksandr Dovzhenko, has been a major center of Ukrainian filmmaking for generations.
It was previously damaged in Russian attacks on June 2 and June 15. The second strike caused a fire in the studio’s costume department, destroying much of a collection containing around 100,000 costumes and some 3 million individual items of clothing.
Some notable pieces survived, including costumes from the classic Ukrainian comedy Chasing Two Hares and an outfit worn by actor Ivan Mykolaichuk in Sergei Parajanov’s Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors.
Culture Minister Tetiana Berezhna said the latest damage struck “a space where Ukrainian cinema was created, where generations of our artists worked, and where an important part of the history of Ukrainian filmmaking is preserved.”