Four people were killed in attacks on the Ukrainian capital, while five rescue workers died trying to put out a fire caused by a strike on the north-eastern city of Kharkiv, officials said. The attack left at least 23 people wounded in Kyiv and five others in Kharkiv.

Damage to Historical Site

The 11th Century Dormition Cathedral was significantly damaged in what President Volodymyr Zelensky called ‘one of the biggest Russian crimes against Christian culture today’ — a gaping hole could be seen on one side of the church, with flames visible from the partially destroyed roof. Zelensky said Russia launched a total of 70 missiles and 611 drones in the overnight attack, and that the fire had since been extinguished.

Impact of the Strikes

Drone and missile strikes set fire to buildings and cars and left more than 140,000 people in Kyiv without electricity, its Mayor Vitali Klitschko said, most of Ukraine was under air raid warnings on Monday morning. A Ukrainian drone attack in the Russian city of Tula killed three people and wounded three others, including a one-year-old, local officials said.

International Response

French President Emmanuel Macron joined the Ukrainian leader in condemning the strike. ‘Nothing justifies this attack on our universal heritage,’ he said on X, the strikes come ahead of a G7 meeting of world leaders this week in France, where the war in Ukraine is on the agenda. Zelensky said the meeting’s response should be ‘decisive and meaningful: more pressure on the aggressor, more assistance to Ukraine with air defense, primarily with anti-ballistic missiles.’

Zelensky earlier said he had spoken to US President Donald Trump about efforts to end the long-running conflict. Russia said a US-manufactured Patriot air defence missile had hit the cathedral, possibly after misfiring. It did not provide evidence to support its claim. Russia’s military said its ‘massive strike’ had targeted Ukrainian military sites.

This is not the first time the cathedral has been struck during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began in 2022. In January, Russian attacks damaged several buildings in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra complex, Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture said at the time. During World War Two, it was almost entirely destroyed, with the exception of its south-eastern tower, Unesco says on its website.