Kyiv cathedral burns as heavy Russian air raids hit Ukraine
Key takeaways
- Flames engulf Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra’s Dormition Cathedral, a UNESCO site, following Russia’s intensified military assault.
- Ukraine’s air force said Russia fired 70 missiles and 611 drones overnight, most of them at the capital, and that air defences shot down 50 missiles and 582 drones.
- The Dormition Cathedral in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, an 11th-century monastery complex and UNESCO World Heritage Site, caught fire after what local authorities said was a direct hit.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Flames engulf Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra’s Dormition Cathedral, a UNESCO site, following Russia’s intensified military assault.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Rescue workers battle flames at the Dormition Cathedral in the 1,000-year-old Monastery of the Caves, also known as the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, after a Russian attack on the Ukrainian capital [Evgeniy Maloletka/AP Photo]By AFP, AP and Reuters Published On 15 Jun 202615 Jun 2026Russia has unleashed one of its heaviest air raids on Ukraine in weeks, killing rescuers in the northeast and setting a historic cathedral ablaze in Kyiv, even as diplomatic moves elsewhere raised faint hopes of wider de-escalation.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia fired 70 missiles and 611 drones overnight, most of them at the capital, and that air defences shot down 50 missiles and 582 drones. Officials said at least four people were killed and about 30 injured in Kyiv, including children, as missiles and drone debris hit apartment blocks, markets and power lines, plunging some 140,000 residents into darkness.