Russian attacks in Ukraine kill nine, damage historic Kyiv cathedral

A large overnight Russian missile and drone barrage has killed at least nine people across Ukraine, knocked out electricity to 140,000 households and ignited a major fire at the Dormition Cathedral within the UNESCO-listed Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery complex.

The assault, which struck multiple cities, including the capital, marked one of the most destructive aerial bombardments on Kyiv’s cultural and civilian infrastructure in months, Ukrainian officials said on Monday.

In Kyiv, emergency services battled a fire that broke out early on Monday on the roof of the 11th-century Dormition Cathedral, the spiritual heart of Ukrainian Orthodoxy.

Maksym Ostapenko, director general of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Preserve, told Ukrainian state broadcaster Suspilne that a Russian kamikaze drone made a direct hit on the cathedral’s roof, engulfing roughly 800sq metres (8,600sq ft) in flames.

The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra , or Monastery of the Caves, is a famed Eastern European religious landmark overlooking the Dnipro River. The complex features an extensive network of underground caves stretching more than 600 metres (650 yards) and has served as a major Christian pilgrimage site for centuries.

Monks and rescue workers formed human chains to evacuate icons and priceless liturgical relics from the burning structure before firefighters brought the blaze under control.

The Ministry of Culture reported that the barrage also heavily damaged the nearby Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Film Studios, destroying its primary costume repository and incinerating an irreplaceable collection of roughly 100,000 garments.

Metropolitan Epiphanius I, head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, condemned the attack on the cathedral in a post on X as “a crime against humanity, against history, and against Christianity”.