Russian strikes kill nine and set Kyiv's Dormition Cathedral ablaze
In a series of Russian air and missile attacks on Ukraine, nine people were killed and several others injured. Four of the casualties were in Kyiv, while five rescue workers lost their lives in Kharkiv when they attempted to extinguish a fire caused by a Russian strike.
The 11th‑century Dormition Cathedral, a symbol of Ukrainian heritage and faith, suffered severe damage in what Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko described as a “brutal assault on our people and our heritage.”
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian city of Tula killed three civilians and wounded three others, including a one‑year‑old child.
Flames and debris spread from buildings and cars as the strikes left more than 140,000 people in Ukraine’s capital without electricity, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko. Air‑raid warnings were in effect across much of Ukraine on Monday.
Ukrainian foreign affairs minister Andrii Sybiha demanded immediate and adequate responses from UNESCO and international mechanisms, calling the cathedral destruction “state barbarism.”
Poland’s neighbours responded by scrambling fighter jets and placing ground‑based air defence systems on alert in a “preventive” move after the Kyiv attacks.
These events unfold just before a G7 meeting in France, where the war in Ukraine will be a central agenda item.
Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had spoken with former U.S. President Donald Trump about efforts to the end the conflict.
Russia’s full‑scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022 under President Vladimir Putin.
