Historic religious site on fire and five dead as Russia strikes Ukraine

A large-scale Russian attack on Ukraine killed five rescuers in Kharkiv and wounded at least 20 people in the capital Kyiv on Monday, as strikes set apartment buildings ablaze and sparked a fire at one of the country’s most significant religious landmarks.

The rescuers were killed in Kharkiv by a second Russian strike as they fought a blaze caused by an earlier attack, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said. At least five other emergency workers were wounded.

A series of powerful explosions echoed across Kyiv, with a wave of ballistic missiles followed by Shahed drones as many people sought shelter underground and officials urged residents to take cover.

“Kyiv is under the main strike. There is significant destruction of civilian infrastructure,” Klymenko said.

Twenty people, including a child, sought medical help in the capital, said Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration.

Five strikes hit civilian sites in the city’s Shevchenkivskyi district in less than 30 minutes, he said, including a 25-story apartment building, while a market and a grocery store caught fire. In the Obolonskyi district, a nine-story residential building took a direct hit.

Tkachenko accused Russia of striking apartment blocks on purpose.

“This is their deliberate decision,” he said.

The damaged complex is a UNESCO-listed World Heritage site. / Credit: AP

Damage at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, a monastic complex, was substantial and a serious fire had broken out, said Tkachenko, who accused Russia of deliberately striking “the heart of one of the largest Christian shrines.”

The roof of the Dormition Cathedral caught fire during the overnight attack, said Metropolitan Epiphanius, head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. He condemned the strike as another Russian crime “against humanity, against history, against Christianity” and appealed for prayers to save the site.

The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, also known as the Monastery of the Caves, is a sprawling complex of monasteries and churches, including some underground, built from the 11th to the 19th century. Some of the churches at the UNESCO-listed World Heritage site are connected by a labyrinthine complex of caves spanning more than 600 meters (2,000 feet).

The cathedral, churches and other buildings overlook the right bank of the Dnipro River and have been a pilgrimage site for centuries.