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 city’s most emblematic cathedrals 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.
At least nine people were killed in the Ukrainian capital by 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 X account that the massive Russian attack is “a message” from Russian President Vladimir Putin to the G7 that makes clear to the most industrialized democracies in the world their “commitment to terror instead of diplomacy.”
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 and which had been previously targeted by Russia, without much damage. 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, reports EFE.
The Kremlin denied attacking the cathedral, saying it had been damaged by a US-made Patriot anti-aircraft missile.
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.
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at kyiv’s Dormition Cathedral, hit during Russian missile and drone attacks on the night of June 14, 2026.
Why is it so important
As the Reuters agency explains, the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery is a symbol of Ukrainian spiritual and cultural history, whose golden domes rose over the capital for almost a millennium. Until last night, by the hands of the Russian Federation. This majestic complex, with its imposing bell towers, splendid churches, chapels, gates and seminary buildings, was founded by monks near the Dnieper River in 1051.
Nestor the Chronicler, the first historian of Ukraine, lived and worked in the monastery. During the following centuries, the monastery established itself as an important spiritual center of Kievan Rus, where chroniclers, icon painters and doctors worked, promoting the development of education.
The building became the main sacred site of Orthodox Christianity in Eastern Europe. A short distance from the bustling center of kyiv, it continues to attract large numbers of worshipers and tourists.
The complex, whose name means “cave monastery”, covers more than 20 hectares and has more than 100 buildings, including several churches and chapels. Six ancient underground churches are located in the monastery caves. It also houses several museums.
The monastery comprises a network of above-ground and underground churches dating from the 11th to the 19th centuries, located within a labyrinthine cave complex stretching for more than 600 metres. Home to monks for centuries, the caves were dug into the Dnieper hills, ranging between 5 and 15 meters deep.
The bodies of the religious rest in the caves of the monastery, including that of the first monk who inhabited them, San Antonio.
The Russian attack, in particular, set fire to the roof of the Dormition Cathedral, the main cathedral of the monastic complex. The cathedral, whose history also dates back to the 11th century, served as a necropolis for the medieval princes of kyiv. In addition, it suffered serious damage during World War II.
This morning UNESCO condemned the barrage at the Dormition, which is declared a universal heritage site by this UN agency. In the attack “adjacent historical structures were also allegedly affected, including some elements of the defensive complex of the Lavra and the Ivan Kushnik Tower,” detailed the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
UNESCO criticized the offensives “against cultural property, educational institutions, students, teaching staff and media professionals protected by international law,” because they “deprive communities” of rights that are “essential for recovery and social cohesion.”
The Paris-based agency told the Ukrainian government that it was “prepared to provide support to the competent authorities to assess the damage suffered by cultural and educational institutions and identify urgent measures that correspond to their mandate.”
More help please
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.
