Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery located in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv caught fire after Russian air strikes in Ukraine on Monday. The monastery is a UNESCO World Heritage site founded in 1051 and is the centre of Ukraine’s spiritual and cultural history. At least five people were killed, and 36 people were injured in the attacks. Authorities have urged locals to take shelter, according to Reuters. Shortly after, Russia attacked Ukraine for a second time.
Air raid alerts were issued across most of Ukraine early on Monday as Russia and Ukraine continued to exchange attacks in the more than four-year-long war.
The attacks come after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that he had spoken to US President and discussed efforts to achieve an end to the conflict, this week.
Trump told Russian President on Sunday that ending the conflict in Ukraine was vital and he was ready to help, a Kremlin advisor said.
Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the capital’s military administration, shared images of the damaged monastery in a separate Telegram post. The city was under, with several high-rise apartments being hit, according to Kyiv authorities.
Kyiv authorities said the city came under a massive aerial attack with several high-rise residential buildings hit.
The attack damaged electricity lines and left 1,40,000 Kyiv residents without power, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging app, adding that some houses and cars caught fire after being hit by drone debris.
“A brutal assault on our people and our heritage. This is the true face of Russia’s Orthodox values,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on X, with her post showing the monastery buildings in flames.
Right now, as Russians continue to strike with over a dozen of ballistic missiles, the Dormition Cathedral of Kyiv‑Pechersk Lavra — a UNESCO World Heritage site and priceless cultural landmark — has been struck and is burning.
A brutal assault on our people and our…
— Yulia Svyrydenko (@Svyrydenko_Y)
Five emergency workers were killed and at least five others hit the city of Kharkiv in Ukraine, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko told Reuters. In Sumy, three people, including a child, were injured in another attack, according to local authorities.
In Russia, three people were killed, and three others, including a one-year-old child, were injured in a Ukrainian drone strike on the city of Tula, south of Moscow, regional officials told Reuters. Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russian industrial and energy facilities in recent weeks in an effort to weaken Moscow’s war effort.
Meanwhile, neighbouring Poland put its air defence systems and radar units on high alert in response to the strikes.
