Russian strikes set historic Kyiv Lavra monastery cathedral ablaze

Deutsche Welle's reports from Kyiv said Russian forces struck the Ukrainian capital and the cities of Kharkiv, Dnipro and Odesa overnight on Monday with drones and cruise missiles. Several buildings of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery caught fire, and the UNESCO World Heritage site suffered damage that included sections of the historic cathedral. Ukrainian interior officials said at least nine civilians had been killed.

Kyiv city officials said firefighters worked for about five hours to bring the blaze under control and that several of the monastery's buildings had been rendered unusable. The Ukrainian foreign ministry condemned the attack; Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the direct targeting of European cultural heritage amounted to a serious breach of international law. The Russian defence ministry said its strikes had targeted military sites and offered no comment specifically on the monastery.

Moscow also reported that three people had been killed by a Ukrainian drone attack on a residential district near Voronezh. Casualty figures on both sides may change. The strikes coincided with the opening day of the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains, where the war in Ukraine and the new US-Iran framework agreement are on the agenda.