Kyiv’s Dormition Cathedral — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — was set ablaze during the early hours of Monday after being hit in Moscow’s latest attack on Ukrainian cities.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko posted a video of the fire raging on the roof of the main building of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery complex, which dates back to the 11th century, and described the attack as a “brutal assault on our people and our heritage.”
“This is the true face of Russia’s Orthodox values,” she added.
The head of Ukraine’s Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Epiphanius of Kyiv, called the attack “another Russian crime against humanity, against history, against Christianity.”
“What more must the Kremlin Antichrist do for the world to realize that decisive action must be taken so that Russian terror against Ukraine and against the very principles of peace comes to an end?” he wrote on X.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia used 70 missiles and 611 drones to strike targets across Ukraine. Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko reported 5 people had been killed in the capital city, with an additional 35 injured.
Separate attacks were also reported in the Dnipro, Donetsk, Mykolaiv, Sumy and Zaporizhzhia regions.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and other European diplomats condemned the attacks.
“Last night we again saw increased attacks on civilians, including against UNESCO heritage sites,” Kallas said ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Monday. “These are all war crimes that Russia is committing.”
Zelenskyy used the attacks to renew calls for Western support.
“It is very important that there be a response from the G7 countries, which are now gathering for their summit — and that this response be decisive and substantive: more pressure on the aggressor and more support for Ukraine’s air defense, especially anti-ballistic capabilities,” he said ahead of the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains, where Ukraine is among the invited partner countries.
Leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S. are attending the summit, alongside top EU officials and invited partner countries.
