KYIV, Ukraine (AP) 鈥� A cathedral in one of the oldest and most sacred landmarks in Eastern Orthodox Christianity was set ablaze early Monday as Russia bombarded Ukraine鈥檚 biggest cities, killing 11 people, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
Russia fired the barrage of hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles at the capital of Kyiv, and the second-largest city of Kharkiv, after Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin with U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday.
Arriving in France, Trump said he had a good conversation with Zelenskyy and Putin. 鈥淣ow that this (Iran) is finished, we鈥檙e going to be focusing on that,鈥� he said, referring to that followed of its neighbor in February 2022.
The war in Ukraine is also set to feature in talks Tuesday by . Zelenskyy also is due to attend to pushing his country’s plight.
鈥淭his is how Russia shows the world its intention to continue the war,鈥� Zelenskyy said in a post on X, referring to the overnight attack on civilian sites that included the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, an 11th-century monastery complex.
鈥淚t is very important that there be a response from the G7 countries … and that this response be decisive and substantive; more pressure on the aggressor and more support for Ukraine鈥檚 air defense, especially anti-ballistic capabilities,鈥� he said.
Zelenskyy offered to meet Putin with Trump and European leaders at the G7 gathering in France but the Kremlin didn鈥檛 reply, a Ukrainian official familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk publicly about it. The Kremlin has said repeatedly that if Zelenskyy wants to meet Putin, he can come to Moscow.
Putin is wanted by the on a dating to March 2023 for alleged involvement in the abduction of children from Ukraine during the conflict. France would be obliged as an ICC member to arrest him. The United States and Russia both oppose the court.
Children among the wounded in Kyiv
Zelenskyy said the Russian strikes killed 11 civilians and emergency workers and wounded 53 across Ukraine.
Five were killed in Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said, where at least 30 others were also wounded, including two children aged 5 and 6, according to Tymur Tkachenko, head of the city’s Military Administration.
A series of powerful explosions were heard across Kyiv, with a wave of ballistic missiles followed by Shahed drones as many people sought shelter underground. Clouds of black smoke drifted over the city.
Five strikes hit civilian sites in the city鈥檚 Shevchenkivskyi district in under 30 minutes, Tkachenko said, including a 25-story apartment building, while a market and a grocery store caught fire. In the Obolonskyi district, a nine-story residential building took a direct hit.
Russia鈥檚 Defense Ministry said the strikes targeted defense and industrial facilities in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Dnipro, including enterprises and workshops producing components for long-range drones and cruise missiles. It said that a workshop producing medium- and long-range drones located on the premises of the Dovzhenko film studios in Kyiv was among the targets hit.
Russia also claimed to have hit Kyiv鈥檚 Radar plant, which it said makes drone components, and the Mayak plant that it said makes Ukraine’s Flamingo long-range cruise missiles. Military conscription offices in Kyiv were also struck, it said.
There was no immediate information about the 11th person killed in the attacks.
Religious site damaged in attack
In Kyiv, smoke billowed around the golden domes of the Dormition Cathedral inside the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, a revered religious landmark.
Its roof caught fire during the attack, said Metropolitan Epiphanius, head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. He condemned the strike as another Russian crime 鈥渁gainst humanity, against history, against Christianity,鈥� and appealed for prayers to save the site.
The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, also known as the , is a sprawling complex of monasteries and churches, including some underground, built between the 11th and 19th centuries. Some of the churches at the UNESCO-listed World Heritage site are connected by a labyrinthine complex of caves spanning more than 600 meters (2,000 feet).
In a statement, UNESCO condemned the attack, which it said reportedly caused significant damage to the exterior and interior of the Dormition Cathedral.
Zelenskyy said the damage was caused by two Russian drones and called the attack Moscow鈥檚 鈥渂iggest crime yet against Christian culture.鈥� He visited the scene with Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko and other government officials.
The cathedral, churches and other buildings overlook the Dnieper River and have been a pilgrimage site for centuries.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the attack was the 鈥渆quivalent, for us French, of a bombing of Notre Dame鈥� in Paris.
Ukraine鈥檚 National Commission for UNESCO, which coordinates the country’s cooperation with the U.N. educational, scientific and cultural body, urged the international community to step up pressure on Moscow to stop its invasion and to throw it out of the organization.
鈥淏y destroying Ukraine鈥檚 cultural heritage, (Russia) seeks to erase historical memory and inflicts damage upon the heritage of all humankind,鈥� the commission said in a statement.
Russia鈥檚 Defense Ministry claimed, without offering evidence, that the complex was hit by one of Ukraine鈥檚 U.S.-made Patriot air defense missiles, saying that it might have veered off course due to its age.
Russia fires more than 600 drones at Ukraine
Ukraine鈥檚 air force said Russia launched 70 missiles and 611 drones overnight, primarily targeting Kyiv, while also striking the cities of Dnipro and Kharkiv.
The military said air defenses intercepted or electronically suppressed 632 aerial targets, including 50 missiles and 582 drones.
Preliminary data showed 20 ballistic missiles and 27 attack drones hit 42 locations across the country, while debris from intercepted drones fell at 12 sites.
Russia鈥檚 Defense Ministry said air defenses downed 123 Ukrainian drones overnight.
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Associated Press writers Samuel Petrequin in London and Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal, contributed.
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