kyiv/The Russian Army launched more than 60 missiles and numerous drones against the Ukrainian capital at dawn, in a new massive attack against kyiv that hit one of the most emblematic cathedrals of the city and took place just a few hours before a G7 summit in which the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, participates, begins in the French town of Évian.
Five people died in the Ukrainian capital due to the fall of Russian drones and missiles. The Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine was also targeted, where five rescuers died while working on an industrial infrastructure that had already been hit a few minutes earlier.
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Andrí Sibiga, said on his
Five rescuers died while working on an industrial infrastructure that had already been hit a few minutes earlier.
Both Sibiga and Zelensky highlighted in their condemnations of the attack that the kyiv Dormition Cathedral was damaged, a temple of capital importance both for the Orthodox religion and for the history of Ukraine that is part of the Caves monastery, whose history dates back to the 11th century.
Sibiga even compared Russia to the Islamic State (IS) for the deliberate destruction of historical heritage considered heretical for which this Muslim extremist group is known.
“From the Horde (of invaders from Mongolia) in the 13th century to the Nazis and Bolsheviks in the 20th century, kyiv’s sacred monasteries have suffered numerous barbaric attacks. Now we face Russian terrorists, who have already surpassed ISIS in their crimes against cultural heritage,” Sibiga wrote in X.
“We expect reactions from international institutions and capitals. Not vague words, silence or weak steps. We need action now to stop Russian barbarism,” Sibiga stressed.
Zelensky said that the attack on the Caves monastery is “an attack on the Christian community and the cultural heritage of humanity,” and asked that “the world not remain silent to this latest Russian act of barbarism.”
The military governor of the kyiv region, Timur Tkachenko, said after the attack that hit the cathedral that preliminary information pointed to a direct hit by the Russian drone that caused a fire on the roof of the building and destroyed several of its smaller golden domes.
An employee of the Las Cuevas monastery told EFE that the drone had fallen on the cathedral after being intercepted by Ukrainian air defenses.
An employee of the Las Cuevas monastery told EFE that the drone had fallen on the cathedral after being intercepted by the Ukrainian air defenses.
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister agreed with Zelensky in demanding a strong reaction from the G7 to the attack that translates into more pressure for Russia and additional means of air defense for Ukraine, which is particularly vulnerable to Russian ballistic missiles.
Of the 34 ballistic missiles launched by Russia against Ukraine during the early hours of the morning, Ukrainian air defenses were only able to shoot down 15.
In addition to participating in the events of the G7 summit itself, Zelensky plans to hold bilateral meetings in Évian with the main European leaders and with the president of the United States, Donald Trump.
One of the main priorities of Zelensky’s diplomatic action is to obtain more Patriot anti-ballistic systems and PAC-3 missiles for these systems that allow Ukraine to protect its infrastructure from Russian ballistic missiles.
As is usual on the part of both sides after this type of attacks, kyiv has only reported on the civil infrastructures hit by Russia, whose Ministry of Defense claimed to have hit nine industrial infrastructure targets in kyiv, Kharkov and Dnipro linked to the production of drones and electronic warfare systems and several military airfields.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, of the total of 70 missiles of different types and 611 drones, 20 ballistic missiles and 27 drones hit 42 different unspecified locations in Ukraine.
