Ukraine’s historic monastery on fire following major Russian attack

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - KYIV —A prominent Ukrainian monastery complex in the heart of Kyiv is on fire following a massive and deadly Russian attack overnight into Monday that wounded more than a dozen people in the capital, according to local authorities.

The attack on the UNESCO-listed Kyiv Pechersk Lavra comes as nine people were killed and several others injured in a wave of Russian strikes on Ukraine, reports say.

The 11th century Dormition cathedral was significantly damaged in what Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko called a "brutal assault on our people and our heritage".

Images showed flames billowing from the major religious landmark the following the attack.

Firefighters were battling the flames under the towers and domes of the complex’s Dormition Cathedral, images released by Ukraine’s emergency services showed.

“The Russians have damaged the Cathedral of the Dormition,” said Tetyana Berezhna, Minister of Culture of Ukraine, in a statement.

At least four people have been killed and more than 20 wounded in the attack on the city, according to Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv city military administration.

The attack has also left about 140,000 households in the northern part of Kyiv without electricity, according to mayor Vitaliy Klitschko.

The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery is a UNESCO World Heritage site. In 2023, it was added to the World Heritage in Danger list “due to the threat of destruction the Russian offensive poses.”

Founded in the 11th century and comprising a complex network of surface and underground churches, it is a major spiritual and cultural center for many Ukrainians and an important pilgrimage site. In its listing, UNESCO describes the complex as a “masterpiece of Ukrainian art.”

Over centuries, relics of saints have been buried in the caves, according to UNESCO.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, at least five people have been killed following Russian bombardment in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, according to Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko. Another five were wounded, he said.

The attack comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he spoke to US President Donald Trump, where the two discussed efforts to bring an end to the war war, which Moscow started more than four years ago. Trump also spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday, according to the Kremlin.

Meanwhile, a chemical plant, an oil depot and other Russian locations were hit overnight on June 14 by Ukrainian strikes.

The Azot chemical plant located in Novomoskovsk, Russia's Tula Oblast, was set ablaze, according to independent Telegram monitoring channel Exilenova Plus.

This chemical factory, located 200 kilometers south of Moscow, is Russia's largest producer of ammonia and nitrogen fertiliser, according to the factory's website.

Same reports claim an oil depot in Rybinsk, Yaroslavl Oblast, was struck and set on fire.

Russian authorities confirmed Novomoskovsk was targeted in an overnight attack, but did not comment on the reported strikes at the Azot plant.

"During the repulsion of the aerial attack, fragments of downed Ukrainian drones fell onto the territory of one of the industrial enterprises in Novomoskovsk," Tula Oblast Governor Dmitriy Milayev said.

Novomoskovsk is located 395 kilometres from Ukraine, and Rybinsk is situated 700 kilometres from the border.

A residential building was struck in the Russian city of Oryal, and a railway infrastructure site was set on fire, according to an independent Telegram news channel Astra.

Ukraine regularly strikes Russian facilities such as the Afipsky Oil Refinery in Russia's Krasnodar region on June 11, Ukraine's General Staff confirmed.

A military factory producing components for drones and missiles in Cheboksary, in Russia's Chuvash Republic, was also hit on June 10, according to Zelensky.