Waves of explosions echoed through Kyiv in the early hours of Monday as Russian missiles and drones tore across Ukraine, setting fire to one of the country’s holiest Christian sites and killing at least five people in Kharkiv.
The Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, a Unesco world heritage site and one of Ukraine’s most significant religious landmarks, was hit during the sustained barrage. Footage showed towering flames licking up towards its domes. “The roof of one of the holiest places in the Christian world – the Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra – is burning,” Metropolitan Epiphanius, head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, wrote on X.
“Russian missile and drone strikes set Kyiv's historic Dormition Cathedral ablaze and killed five rescuers in Kharkiv.”
Yulia Svyrydenko, the prime minister, posted a picture of the monastery in flames and said: “A brutal assault on our people and our heritage. This is the true face of Russia’s Orthodox values. We ask for prayers for the salvation of the shrine from destruction. Another Russian crime against humanity, against history, against Christianity.”
Six people were reported injured in the capital, where damage was recorded at 16 locations. At least 10 people were injured across the city, according to Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, who urged people to remain in shelters. “New launches targeting the capital keep being recorded,” he said. Thirteen people, including a child, sought medical help in the capital, Tkachenko added.
In the Shevchenkivskyi district, five strikes hit civilian sites in less than 30 minutes, including a 25-story apartment building, while a market and a grocery store caught fire. In the Obolonskyi district, a nine-story residential building was struck. Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said: “Kyiv is under the main strike. There is significant destruction of civilian infrastructure.”
Outside the capital, at least five people were killed in Kharkiv in what appeared to be a double-tap strike targeting emergency responders. The rescuers died as they fought a blaze caused by an earlier attack, Klymenko said. At least five other emergency workers were wounded.
The attacks came after Russian president Vladimir Putin warned that Moscow would target Ukraine with “systemic” strikes, and amid evidence of mounting battlefield setbacks for Russia. Poland, an EU and Nato member, scrambled fighter jets and put ground-based air defence systems on a state of readiness.
What remains of the Dormition Cathedral – a site that has stood for centuries – now smoulders, a symbol of a conflict that shows no sign of abating.