Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday called on the Group of Seven (G7) leading industrial democracies to respond decisively to Russian attacks in Kiev and other cities, he said.
More pressure was needed on the aggressor and more support for Ukraine's air defence, especially to protect against attacks with ballistic missiles, Zelensky wrote on Telegram. He is expected in the evening at the G7 summit in the French town of Évian.
Russia attacked the capital Kiev with more than 60 missiles and cruise missiles overnight, Zelensky said. Overall, 611 drones and 70 missiles and cruise missiles were used against the country overnight. At least nine people were killed. In Kiev authorities reported 28 injured.
Speaking after a fire in the main church of UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery complex, Zelensky described it as one of the "biggest Russian crimes against Christian culture." The fire at the site, whose history began in the 11th century, has been extinguished, Zelensky said. The monastery is considered a holy site by the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Tymur Tkachenko, the military governor of the capital, said the attack caused serious damage on the grounds of the historic monastery, which is owned by the Ukrainian state.
Russia hit numerous other Ukrainian cities, Zelensky said.
"In Kharkiv, the Russians carried out another attack on our rescue workers who were extinguishing the fire at the site of a hit at a company," he said. Five rescue workers were killed. In Dnipropetrovsk, Russia attacked the grounds of a railway station, a university and companies. The regions of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya, Sumy and Mykolaiv were also targets.
"This is how Russia shows the world its intention to continue the war," Zelensky said.
Moscow blames fire in main church on Ukrainian air defence
Russia's Defence Ministry described the attacks on Ukraine as a retaliatory strike against "terrorist attacks by the Kiev regime" in Russia. Targets included production facilities for drones and missiles in Kiev, it said. According to the Russian account, such military targets were also located in a film studio in Kiev that was also hit.
The monastery in Kiev was hit by a Patriot missile from Ukrainian air defence, the Russian Defence Ministry said, in a claim that could not be verified.
Western states had handed Kiev such missiles with expired use-by dates, which could have led to the situation on the monastery grounds, the ministry said.
Three people killed in Russia overnight
According to the governor of Russia's Tula region, Dmitry Milyaev, three people were killed overnight as a result of Ukrainian drone strikes. Three others were injured, he said on Telegram.
The Moscow city administration said several incoming drones were shot down. No information was initially given on possible damage or casualties.
