Sawt Falasteen - Deadly Russian strikes leave landmark Kyiv cathedral in flames

AFP journalists across Kyiv witnessed residents running through the streets seeking shelter throughout the night as projectiles were intercepted in the sky and glowing debris fell across the darkened city.

In response to the assault Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for more pressure on Moscow from G7 leaders, who were gathering at a summit in France set to be dominated by the US-Iranian deal to end the Middle East war.

The violence killed five people and wounded 34 in the capital as fire broke out on the grounds of the UNESCO world heritage site Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, setting ablaze the roof of its Dormition Cathedral.

"This is one of Russia's most serious crimes against Christian culture to date," Zelensky said on social media.

Founded in the 11th century, the site holds huge significance for Orthodox believers in both Ukraine and Russia.

Russia's military said it had carried out a "massive strike" on military sites in Kyiv, as well as the Kharkiv and Dnipro regions, but denied targeting the Lavra, saying it was hit by an outdated US Patriot air defence missile.

Moscow fired 70 missiles and 611 drones, mainly targeting the capital, Ukraine's air force said, adding it had downed 50 of the missiles and 582 drones.

In the morning Kyiv sun, an AFP reporter saw rescuers carefully cleaning up rubble at the monastery, as the church bells rang out the tune of the Ukrainian anthem.

Zelensky called for G7 leaders, meeting for a summit in France, to give a "decisive and substantive" response to the attacks.

He urged "more pressure on the aggressor and more support for Ukraine's air defence, especially anti-ballistic capabilities."

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the G7 leaders will "discuss the next steps to increase pressure on Russia, bring (Russian President Vladimir) Putin to the negotiating table, and end this senseless killing."

- 'You cannot strike shrines' -

In Kyiv, museum worker Natalia Korol said she was "outraged" by the strike on the monastery.

"It is a shrine. They also say that it is their shrine. You cannot strike shrines," the 52-year-old woman told AFP.

The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, a monastery with emblematic golden domes, is venerated by both the Russian and Ukrainian wings of the Orthodox Church as one of their most important spiritual centres.

Its sprawling cave system holds the relics of dozens of saints revered by both churches.

The Dormition Cathedral, set alight in the overnight attacks, was almost completely destroyed during World War II and rebuilt only in the 1990s.

The Russian Orthodox Church administered the site via its Ukrainian branch for centuries.

In 2022-2023, the monks serving in the Ukrainian branch of the Moscow church were evicted from the monastery, accused of having ties to Russia.

French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the strikes saying "nothing justifies this attack on our universal heritage."

Kyiv's Metropolitan Epiphanius denounced the attack.

"What more must the Kremlin antichrist do for the world to realise that decisive action must be taken to stop Russian terror against Ukraine and against the very principles of peace?"

A building in the capital's Mystetsky Arsenal National Art and Museum Complex also caught fire, according to Ukraine's emergency service.

- 'Bring about peace' -

In total, 11 people were killed in the overnight barrage, including four in Kyiv and five -- rescue workers and a civil servant -- in the northeastern city of Kharkiv.

In Russia, a Ukrainian drone strike also killed three people and wounded three others in the Russian city of Tula, around 200 kilometres (120 miles) south of Moscow, the regional governor Dmitry Milyaev said on Monday.

The strikes came hours after the US and Iran announced a peace deal and after Zelensky and Putin both called their US counterpart Donald Trump on Sunday to discuss the conflict in Ukraine.

Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine has turned into Europe's worst conflict since World War II, with thousands of civilians and hundreds of thousands of troops killed.

Amid near-daily pummelling of its cities by Russian drones and missiles, Ukraine has in recent weeks stepped up its own aerial attacks, which it says mostly target Russia's oil infrastructure to sap its profits that fund the war.

V.AbuAwwad--SF-PST