Historic Kyiv monastery damaged

10 people killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine

KYIV:

A 1,000-year-old monastery that symbolises Ukraine's spiritual and cultural heritage was badly damaged in the heaviest Russian aerial attack on Kyiv in two weeks, authorities said on Monday, while 10 people were killed nationwide in the overnight strikes.

France's foreign minister said the attack on the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage site founded in 1051, was akin to bombing Notre Dame cathedral in Paris.

The Russian strikes came after Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday he had discussed with U.S. President Donald Trump efforts to secure an end to the more than four-year conflict, ahead of a G7 meeting in France this week.

"A Russian strike on the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra set the Dormition Cathedral on fire – a church whose history dates back to the 11th century. And this is one of Russia's most serious crimes against Christian culture to date," Zelenskiy said on X.

"This is an attack on our history," he said later, while visiting the damaged monastery and adding, "Of course everything will be restored."

As flames leaptabove the religious compound, Kyiv residents took shelter underground in the worst Russian attack on Ukraine since early June, when drones and missiles killed more than 20 people and left more than 100 wounded.

Russia denied striking the monastery and said it had been damaged by a U.S.-made Patriot air defence missile but Zelenskiy said during a visit to the site that it had been struck by a Russian drone.

A source familiar with the situation provided Reuters with a photo of what he said were Russian drone debris found near the damaged cathedral building in the Lavra. Reuters was not immediately able to confirm the authenticity of the image.