Russia bombards Kyiv with drones and missiles, sets fire to historic cathedral
Several people were killed in Kyiv by the overnight Russian strikes.
LONDON -- Russian drones and missiles targeted Kyiv in a major attack on Sunday night, Ukrainian officials said on Monday morning, killing several people in the capital and setting a fire at a historic cathedral and UNESCO world heritage site.
At least five people were killed and 28 people injured by the strikes on Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in posts to social media.
Zelenskyy said that Russia launched more than 60 missiles at the capital.
The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, an 11th-century cathedral located in the heart of the city, was among the sites damaged in the attack, Zelenskyy wrote.
The roof of the church was set on fire by strikes, he reported, though said that emergency responders extinguished the blaze. "This is one of the biggest Russian crimes against Christian culture to date," the Ukrainian leader added.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described the attack as "barbaric" in a post to X. He added that Russian President Vladimir Putin "has forever put his name on the list of history's worst barbarians."
In total, Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 70 missiles and 611 drones into Ukraine overnight, of which 50 missiles and 582 drones were shot down or otherwise suppressed. Twenty ballistic missiles and 27 drones impacted across 42 locations, the air force said in a post to Telegram.
Sunday night's attack was the largest combined Russian strike recorded since the night of June 1, according to Ukrainian air force data analyzed by ABC News.
Zelenskyy said that at least five more people were killed and nine people injured by Russian strikes In the northeastern city of Kharkiv, while other attacks were also reported in the Kyiv, Dnipro, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy and Mykolaiv regions.
"Russia is showing the world its intentions to continue the war," Zelenskyy wrote. "It is very important that there be a response from the G7 countries, which are currently gathering for a summit, and that it be decisive and meaningful: more pressure on the aggressor, more help for Ukraine with air defense, especially with anti-ballistic missiles."
Russia's Defense Ministry described the overnight attacks as "a massive strike with high-precision weapons" in a post to Telegram. The ministry claimed that its targets included "objects of the defense-industrial complex" and military facilities in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Dnipro.
The ministry denied responsibility for the strike on the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, claiming -- without providing evidence -- that the cathedral was hit by an interceptor missile fired by a Ukrainian-operated U.S.-made Patriot surface-to-air missile system.
The Russian Defense Ministry also claimed the shooting down of at least 123 long-range Ukrainian drones overnight into Monday morning.
Russia's federal air transport agency, Rosaviatsiya, said in posts to Telegram that temporary flight restrictions were introduced at airports in Sochi, Volgograd, Kaluga, Yaroslavl and Nizhny Novgorod overnight.
Flight restrictions were also introduced at three of Moscow's four international airports -- Domodedovo, Ivanovo and Zhukovsky -- amid the latest attacks, Rosaviatsiya said.
Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said in a post to Telegram that four Ukrainian drones were shot down en route to the capital in the early hours of Monday, marking the eighth consecutive day of Ukrainian drone attacks targeting Moscow.
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