Key facts
- A 1,000-year-old monastery in Kyiv, the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, was badly damaged in a major Russian aerial attack.
- Russia denied striking the monastery, claiming a U.S.-made Patriot missile caused the damage.
- Ukraine's SBU security service recovered fragments of a Russian Geran-2 drone at the site.
- The attack nationwide killed 10 people, including four rescuers in Kharkiv and three in Tula, Russia.
- President Zelenskyy called the strike a serious crime against Christian culture and an attack on Ukraine's history.
Russia denied responsibility for damaging the 1,000-year-old Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage site, during a major aerial attack on Ukraine. Moscow claimed a U.S.-made Patriot air defence missile, used by Ukraine, was responsible for the damage, calling accusations of a Russian strike a "crude fake."
Ukraine's SBU security service stated it recovered fragments of a Russian Geran-2 drone at the site and posted images of the debris, which Reuters could not independently verify. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy condemned the attack as "one of Russia's most serious crimes against Christian culture" and "an attack on our history."
The attack nationwide killed 10 people, including four emergency service rescuers in Kharkiv and three people in Tula, Russia, from a Ukrainian drone strike. In Kyiv, four people were killed and 34 injured, with a fifth later dying in hospital. The monastery's Dormition Cathedral sustained extensive roof damage, but its structure and walls remained standing.
European leaders condemned the strike, with France comparing it to the bombing of Notre Dame. The EU's foreign policy chief called it a "war crime." Ukraine requested an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council.
In recent months, Ukraine has intensified attacks on Russian industrial and energy facilities, and on Sunday, Ukraine hit two bridges connecting Crimea with Russian-controlled areas. Zelenskiy had discussed efforts to end the conflict with U.S. President Donald Trump ahead of a G7 meeting in France.