Kyiv, Ukraine — Russia fired a barrage of missiles at several major Ukrainian cities on Monday, killing at least 11 people and sparking a blaze at one of the most important Orthodox monasteries.
AFP journalists across Kyiv witnessed residents running through the streets seeking shelter throughout the night as projectiles were intercepted in the sky and glowing debris fell across the darkened city.
In response to the assault, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for more pressure on Moscow from G7 leaders who were gathering at a summit in France set to be dominated by the U.S.-Iranian deal to end the Middle East war.
The violence killed five people and wounded 34 in the capital as fire broke out on the grounds of the UNESCO world heritage site Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, setting the roof of its Dormition Cathedral on fire.
Valentyn Ogirenko/REUTERS
“This is one of Russia’s most serious crimes against Christian culture to date,” Zelenskyy said on social media.
Founded in the 11th century, the site holds huge significance for Orthodox believers in both Ukraine and Russia.
Russia’s military said it had carried out a “massive strike” on military sites in Kyiv as well as the Kharkiv and Dnipro regions, but denied targeting the Lavra, saying without evidence that it was hit by an outdated U.S. Patriot air defense missile.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the attack was the “equivalent … of a bombing of Notre Dame,” the famed Paris cathedral. The Associated Press pointed out. French President Emmanuel Macron said the attack only strengthened the determination of Ukraine’s allies to pursue a ceasefire and work toward peace, the AP reported.
Moscow fired 70 missiles and 611 drones, mainly targeting the capital, Ukraine’s air force said, adding it had downed 50 of the missiles and 582 drones.
In the morning Kyiv sun, an AFP reporter saw rescuers carefully cleaning up rubble at the monastery as the church bells rang out the tune of the Ukrainian anthem.
Zelenskyy called for G7 leaders to give a “decisive and substantive” response to the attacks.
Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters 
He urged “more pressure on the aggressor and more support for Ukraine’s air defense, especially anti-ballistic capabilities.”
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the G7 leaders will “discuss the next steps to increase pressure on Russia, bring (Russian President Vladimir) Putin to the negotiating table, and end this senseless killing.”
“You cannot strike shrines”
In Kyiv, museum worker Natalia Korol said she was “outraged” by the strike on the monastery.
“It is a shrine. They also say that it is their shrine. You cannot strike shrines,” the 52-year-old told AFP.
The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, a monastery with emblematic golden domes, is venerated by both the Russian and Ukrainian wings of the Orthodox Church as one of their most important spiritual centers.
Its sprawling cave system holds the relics of dozens of saints revered by both churches.
The Dormition Cathedral, set ablaze in the overnight attacks, was almost completely destroyed during World War II and rebuilt only in the 1990s.
The Russian Orthodox Church administered the site via its Ukrainian branch for centuries.
In 2022-2023, the monks serving in the Ukrainian branch of the Moscow church were evicted from the monastery, accused of having ties to Russia.
A building in the capital’s Mystetsky Arsenal National Art and Museum Complex also caught fire, according to Ukraine’s emergency service.
A Ukrainian drone strike killed three people and wounded three others in the Russian city of Tula, around 120 miles south of Moscow, the regional governor Dmitry Milyaev said on Monday.
The strikes came hours after the U.S. and Iran announced a peace deal and after Zelenskyy and Putin called President Trump on Sunday to discuss the conflict in Ukraine.
Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine has turned into Europe’s worst conflict since World War II, with thousands of civilians and hundreds of thousands of troops killed.
Amid near-daily pummelling of its cities by Russian drones and missiles, Ukraine has in recent weeks stepped up its own aerial attacks that it says mostly target Russia’s oil infrastructure to sap Moscow’s profits that fund the war.