At least 12 killed, dozens injured as Russia, Ukraine trade strikes
At least 12 people were killed and dozens injured in overnight Russian strikes across Ukraine, including a missile attack on Kyiv’s 975-year-old UNESCO-listed Dormition Cathedral, which suffered severe damage. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky blamed Russia for targeting cultural heritage and praised recent U.S.-supplied Patriot air defense missiles, which helped intercept 70 ballistic missiles and 611 drones launched across the country’s central and eastern regions.
Russian airstrikes and drone attacks across Ukraine killed at least 12 people and injured dozens overnight, with Kyiv bearing the brunt of the assault. The capital’s 975-year-old Dormition Cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage site, was struck and badly damaged, prompting outrage from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Metropolitan Epiphanius of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. Zelensky called the attack one of the ‘biggest Russian crimes against Christian culture,’ while French President Emmanuel Macron condemned it as a strike on ‘universal heritage.’ In Kyiv, a 25-story residential tower in Darnytskyi district was among 40 locations hit, with a pregnant woman and two children among 30 injured. Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, reported widespread damage, though firefighters contained the cathedral blaze by Monday lunchtime. Zelensky credited a recent delivery of U.S.-made Patriot air defense missiles for intercepting most of the 70 ballistic missiles and 611 drones launched by Russia, noting the strikes could have been far deadlier without them. Elsewhere in Ukraine, five people died in Kharkiv—including four emergency workers killed in a ‘double-tap’ missile strike—while drone attacks in Sumy and Dnipro injured at least four, including a child. Russia denied responsibility for the cathedral attack but confirmed its air defenses shot down 107 Ukrainian drones over regions including Moscow, Belgorod, and Crimea. In retaliation, Ukrainian drones struck the Russian city of Tula, killing three people, including a one-year-old child, and wounding three others. Tula Governor Dmitry Milyaev reported 16 drones destroyed over the region, while Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed its systems intercepted 107 drones across multiple regions. Zelensky emphasized the importance of sustained Western military support, stating that the recent Patriot missile delivery had been critical in mitigating the damage from the latest barrage.
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