Kyiv shrines, memorials with powerful symbolic value at risk

An image of St Sophia Cathedral, foreground, and St Michael Cathedral, background, in Kyiv, Ukraine, taken last December. As the capital braces for a Russian attack in 2022, the spiritual heart of Ukraine could be at risk. Photo: AP

Kyiv, bracing for a potentially catastrophic Russian attack, is the spiritual heart of Ukraine.

Among the sites at risk in the Ukrainian capital are the nation's most sacred Orthodox shrines, dating back nearly 1,000 years to the dawn of Christianity in the region.