Russian missiles and drone strikes on Ukraine have killed nine people and left the historic Dormition Cathedral in Kyiv devastated. Four soldiers were killed in attacks on Kyiv, while five rescue workers lost their lives fighting a blaze set by a strike on Kharkiv.
The ruined 11th‑century Dormition Cathedral, a symbol of Ukrainian heritage, suffered heavy damage. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko denounced the assault as a brutal attack on people and culture.
In the Russian city of Tula, a Ukrainian drone attack left three dead and wounded three others, including a one‑year‑old child.
Drone and missile attacks set fire to buildings and cars, cutting off electricity for over 140,000 residents of Kyiv. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said most of Ukraine was under air‑raid warnings during the assaults.
The strikes on Kyiv hit several residential buildings, leaving at least 23 people wounded, and five others were injured in Kharkiv.
Ukraine’s foreign affairs minister Andrii Sybiha urged UNESCO and other international bodies to take immediate action against this state barbarism, and demanded an adequate response.
Poland scrambled fighter jets and positioned ground‑based air defence systems in a "preventive" response to the Russian strikes.
These attacks come ahead of a G7 meeting in France, which will include the war in Ukraine on its agenda.
President Volodymyr Zelensky reported speaking with U.S. President Donald Trump about efforts to end the conflict, while Russia’s President Vladimir Putin launched a full‑scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
