Ukrainian heritage-listed monastery severely damaged by Russian strike

Four people have been killed while the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery, a symbol of Ukrainian spiritual and cultural history, caught fire, in the heaviest Russian air attack on the Ukrainian capital in two weeks, authorities say.

The fresh strikes came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had spoken to US President Donald Trump and discussed efforts to achieve an end to the more than four-year conflict, ahead of a G7 meeting in France this week.

The central Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage site founded in 1051, was seriously damaged in a direct attack, Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the capital's military administration, said in a Telegram post.

"A brutal assault on our people and our heritage. This is the true face of Russia's Orthodox values," Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on X.

As towering flames rose over the monastery, residents took shelter underground in the worst Russian attack on Ukraine since early June when drones and missiles killed more than 20 people and left more than 100 wounded.

Russia's attack on the Pechersk Lavra monastery was totally unjustified, French President Emmanuel Macron said, adding that France would continue to work for a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine at the G7 meeting.

"This attack only justifies our determination to do everything we can, along with our allies and partners, to work towards a ceasefire and then for a peace deal, which Russia is stubbornly refusing," he wrote on X.

Russia denied striking the monastery and said it had been damaged by a US-made Patriot air defence missile but Mr Zelenskyy said during a visit to the site that it had been struck by a Russian drone.

Apartment buildings struck

Drones and missiles struck several high-rise apartment buildings and damaged electricity lines, leaving some 140,000 residents without power, according to Kyiv authorities.

Ukraine's military said on Monday morning that Russia had launched 70 missiles and 611 drones on Ukraine overnight and its air defence shot down 50 missiles and 582 drones of various types.

"Ballistic missiles remain a problem for us," Air Force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat said on national television.

"Of the 34 ballistic missiles launched, only 15 were shot down, although that is a strong result."

Four people were killed and 30 were injured, Mr Tkachenko said.

"What more must the Kremlin Antichrist do for the world to realise that decisive action must be taken so that the Russian terror against Ukraine and the very principles of peace come to an end?" Metropolitan Epifaniy, head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, said on X.

Neighbouring Poland, an EU and NATO member, scrambled fighter jets on Monday against a possible airspace incursion, before recalling the alert and saying no sky violation had been recorded, Poland's armed forces said in a post on X.

Ukraine would be "urgently initiating" procedures within UNESCO and other international mechanisms to ensure "immediate and adequate responses to this state barbarism", Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X in reference to the monastery attack, with Estonian Foreign Minister, Margus Tsahkna, also condemning the Russian strikes.

Russia and Ukraine exchange fire

Most of Ukraine's territory was under air raid warnings in the early hours of Monday and Ukrainian drones were being repelled over Russia as both countries continued to exchange strikes.

Five emergency service rescuers were killed and at least another five injured after a second Russian strike hit Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on Telegram, with three people, including a child, wounded in Sumy, according to social media posts by local authorities.

Russia and Ukraine both deny deliberately attacking civilians.

Ukraine has recently intensified attacks on Russian industrial and energy facilities, as it tries to deprive Moscow of revenues and hasten an end to the war.

On Monday, three people were killed and another three, including a one-year-old child, were injured in a drone attack on the Russian city of Tula, an industrial cluster south of Moscow, the regional governor said in a Telegram post.

Ukraine also moved overnight to cut off the Black Sea Crimean peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014 and already grappling with a fuel crisis, from further supplies by hitting two bridges connecting it to the Russian-controlled areas.

Slow road to peace

Before his conversation with Mr Trump, Mr Zelenskyy had proposed direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin for a ceasefire solution involving the US and Europe — something Britain, Germany and France supported but Mr Putin rebuffed.

Russia is committed to Mr Trump's proposals to end the war in Ukraine, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday, adding that he was eager to hear from US envoys how peace agreements would be implemented.

US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who have brokered negotiations aimed at ending the war, will travel to Russia again soon, the Kremlin said on Sunday.

The Europeans, meanwhile, are trying to foist their mediation services on Russia, Mr Lavrov added, but were wrong to assume that Russia was losing the war and that they could issue ultimatums to Moscow.

Progress towards a peace agreement in Ukraine has been slow, with US officials and mediators concentrating on the conflict in the Middle East.

Türkiye's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will repeat the offer to host talks between Russia and Ukraine on a visit to Moscow this week at which he will also discuss Black Sea shipping safety and the South Caucasus, a diplomatic source said.

The visit on Tuesday and Wednesday comes ahead of Türkiye hosting a NATO summit on July 7-8, and after Kyiv asked Ankara in April to mediate by hosting a leaders' level meeting.

Türkiye has maintained cordial ties with Moscow and Kyiv since Russia's invasion in 2022.

The Turkish source said Mr Fidan would meet Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and later meet Mr Putin.

He will warn against further escalation in the Black Sea and repeat Türkiye's proposal of a limited ceasefire on ports and energy infrastructure, the source said.

In recent months, Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of drone attacks on tankers near Türkiye's northern coast.

A Ukrainian official said that Kyiv would welcome an offer from Türkiye to host bilateral talks, which Mr Zelenskyy has proposed several times.

Reuters