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.
A wave of Russian airstrikes on Ukraine caused a fire at the main church of the historic Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Ukrainian officials reported significant damage across the capital and rising civilian casualties nationwide.
According to Ukrainian authorities, there were at least 11 deaths and dozens of injuries nationwide. In Kiev alone, authorities reported five deaths and 35 injuries.
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.
On Monday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a post on X that the summit would focus on increasing pressure on Russia and pushing for negotiations to end the war and to "bring Putin to the negotiating table."
“Russia, on the other hand, showed again its sole interest in violence and destruction,” she wrote.
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 deployed overnight.
Fire at UNESCO World Heritage Site
Speaking after a fire in the main church of the UNESCO 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.
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.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) said fragments of a Russian “Geran” kamikaze drone - based on Iran’s Shahed design - were found on monastery grounds, and published images of the debris.
Damage across Kiev and other regions
Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported strikes in three districts of the city, with widespread fires, power outages and about 30 vehicles destroyed. Military officials said more than 40 impacts were recorded in the capital.
Nearly two dozen explosions were reported overnight, according to a dpa correspondent in Kiev, likely caused in part by air defence activity.
Russia also 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.
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 Russian Defence Ministry said multiple drones were intercepted over Moscow, with no confirmed damage reported in the capital.
