The Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, a sacred and historic monastery, caught fire after a massive Russian air raid on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, killing at least four people and injuring many more. The attack, part of a wave of Russian strikes across Ukraine, caused houses, cars, and a high-rise apartment building to ignite, leaving 140,000 residents without electricity in parts of Kyiv, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko and Tymur Tkachenko, head of the capital's military administration.
Details of the Attack
Agence France-Presse reported a major missile attack, with its reporter witnessing projectiles intercepted in the sky and glowing debris falling onto the city. Ukraine's air force warned that the risk of missile and drone attacks persisted into Monday morning. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko posted a picture of the monastery buildings in flames, stating, "A brutal assault on our people and our heritage. This is the true face of Russia's Orthodox values."
Strikes Across Ukraine
In Kharkiv city, at least five people were killed in what appeared to be a double-tap strike targeting emergency responders extinguishing a fire from an earlier attack. A baby was injured in a drone strike on Kharkiv, said the regional governor. On Sunday, the regions of Zaporizhzhia and Sumy came under attack. Police reported two killed and four injured in Sumy. In Zaporizhzhia, a 73-year-old woman died when a drone hit her car, according to the regional governor.
Ukraine's Retaliatory Strikes
Ukraine hit two bridges connecting Crimea to Russian-controlled areas, continuing efforts to isolate the illegally occupied peninsula. Crimea is already facing a severe fuel crisis due to Ukrainian strikes on supply lines. On Monday, three people were killed and three injured, including a one-year-old child, in a drone attack on the Russian city of Tula, an industrial cluster south of Moscow. Ukraine denies targeting civilians. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that Ukraine struck an oil facility in Russia's Yaroslavl region and the critically important Azot explosives plant in the Tula region, as well as Russian military logistics in occupied parts of Ukraine. "Ukraine is carrying out its plan of long-range sanctions against Russia and the assigned tasks regarding mid-range strikes in response to Russia's refusal to end this war," Zelenskyy stated.
Further Russian Damage
The governor of Russia's Yaroslavl region, Mikhail Yevryaev, reported a massive Ukrainian drone attack that hit fuel storage facilities, causing a large fire. One person was killed and nine injured on Sunday when Ukrainian drones hit an apartment building in the Russian city of Oryol, south of Moscow. A drone strike also set fire to a sea terminal in the southern Russian port of Temryuk, according to Russian state media. Ukraine's military and the SBU security service said on Saturday that Ukrainian drones targeted several sites in Russia, including an oil and gas terminal in the Krasnodar region and an oil processing facility in the Volgograd region.
Diplomatic Efforts
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has spoken with Donald Trump about ending the Russia-Ukraine war ahead of the G7 meeting in France this week. Zelenskyy said, "I updated the president on the latest developments on the battlefield and how our position has strengthened. We have some good ideas that could help bring peace closer." Trump also spoke with Vladimir Putin and offered to help end the war, reported Russia's Tass news agency.
