The UNESCO-protected Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, Ukraine’s most important Orthodox monastery, was set ablaze during a massive overnight missile and drone barrage that killed at least nine people across the country. The incident occurred hours after US President Donald Trump spoke by phone with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin and said he wanted to help end the war.
Part of the historic monastery complex caught fire during the attacks, and at least 13 people were injured at the site, while authorities reported widespread damage across Kyiv following one of the largest Russian aerial attacks of the war.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russian launched a massive barrage of 70 missiles and 611 drones at Ukraine overnight, mostly targeting the capital, Kyiv, while Dnipro and Kharkiv were also hit.
“This is how Russia shows the world its intention to continue the war,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X following the Russian overnight attack.
Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said Russian strikes also killed five rescue workers and wounded at least five others in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, located in the northeast of the country.
“In Kharkiv, five State Emergency Service rescuers were killed as they were fighting fires as a result of repeated Russian strikes. At least five more were wounded,” Klymenko wrote on Telegram.
Authorities also said that six people, including an infant, were injured in a fire at the Kharkiv Art Museum as the result of a Russian air strike.
“A localized fire in the building of an art museum with an area of 1,200 square meters. Work is under way to finally put it out,” Ukraine’s emergency service authorities said.
‘Brutal Assault’ On Heritage Site
According to Ukrianian authorities, the buildings struck in Kyiv included the main cathedral of the historic Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra (Monastery of the Caves), a UNESCO World Heritage site, where firefighters were still battling blazes early on June 15.
Archimandrite Avraamiy, vicar of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, told RFE/RL hours after the attack that the strike was “yet another act of Russian barbarism” and showed that “nothing is sacred to them.”
“It is symbolic that the Dormition Cathedral — the main cathedral of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra — was hit today by a Russian attack,” he said.
“The feeling was as if an enemy bullet had hit you straight in the heart — directly in the heart,” he added.
“A brutal assault on our people and our heritage. This is the true face of Russia’s Orthodox values,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko wrote on X.
More than a dozen fire engines were near the monastery grounds in the morning hours, with firefighters working to extinguish the blaze from the inside and from outside platforms, an AFP journalist at the scene reported.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha condemned the Russian strike on Ukraine’s most important Orthodox monastery, describing it as “state barbarism.”
“It is important that the world does not remain silent in response to this latest act of Russian barbarism,” Zelesnkyy said in post on X.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas condemned the attack on Ukrainian civilians and Kyiv’s centuries-old Pechersk Lavra, saying that “these are war crimes, and Russia will have to answer for them.”
Meanwhile, Russian state media quoted the country’s Defense Ministry as claiming that the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra was hit by a US-supplied Patriot missile, possibly due to a malfunction or expired missiles provided by Western countries.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the “massive” overnight attack caused damage and fires in nearly all districts of the capital. Authorities said four people were killed and at least 25 others were injured, including children.
The State Emergency Service also reported that a fire broke out at the Mystetskiy Arsenal National Art and Cultural Museum Complex in Kyiv, Ukraine’s flagship cultural institution, affecting an area of approximately 1,000 square meters following the strike.
Russia attacked the Dovzhenko National Film Studios, one of the oldest film studios in Ukraine, founded in 1927 in Kyiv, Ukrainian Culture Minister Tetyana Berezhna wrote on her Facebook page.
“As a result of a strike, the costume workshop was damaged. The largest and oldest costume collection in Ukraine was destroyed. The studio contained around one hundred thousand costumes and three million items of various clothing,” she said.
Ukraine Hits Back
Meanwhile, Kyiv has continued its recently intensified attacks on Russian industrial and energy infrastructure sites as it attempts to interrupt the Kremlin’s flow of funds used to fuel its war against Ukraine.
Regional Governor Dmitry Milyayev said in a Telegram post that three people were killed and three others were injured in a Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian city of Tula, some 200 kilometers south of Moscow.
It wasn’t immediately clear what sites had been hit, but the Tula region is home to several major industrial facilities and has been a frequent Ukrainian target following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Also early on June 15, Kremlin-installed authorities in Russian-occupied areas in the Ukrainian region of Kherson said Ukrainian attacks had damaged two bridges and that traffic had been suspended.
Details were scarce and the reports could not be independently verified.
Trump Speaks Separately With Putin, Zelenskyy
The violence came as Trump told Putin in a call on June 14 that ending the conflict in Ukraine was vital and that he was prepared to help bring about peace, Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yury Ushakov said.
“As regards the Ukrainian conflict, Donald Trump again emphasized that a cessation of hostilities was vital,” Ushakov told reporters in relaying details of the 55-minute call.
Trump also spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said the two discussed efforts to achieve an end to the war ahead of a summit of the Group of Seven (G7) leading industrialized nations in France beginning on June 15.
Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram that he had wished Trump a happy 80th birthday and thanked him for the assistance provided by Washington throughout the conflict.
“I wished President Trump every success, first and foremost in his efforts to end Russia’s war against Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said.
