A massive Russian missile and drone attack across Ukraine killed at least 11 people and wounded 53. The strikes set fire to the historic 11th-century Dormition Cathedral at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, a UNESCO World Heritage site, sparking international condemnation. The attack, which Ukraine struggled to defend against, came just hours after U.S. President Trump held peace talks with the leaders of both nations and ahead of a G7 summit.
Russian strikes on Ukraine
- ▪The attacks left more than 140,000 households in Kyiv without electricity
- ▪Russia launched an overnight attack on Ukraine on June 15, 2026, using 70 missiles and 611 drones
- ▪In Kyiv, Russian strikes hit residential buildings, a market, a grocery store, and the Oleksandr Dovzhenko national film studio
Kyiv monastery cathedral damage
- ▪The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra is a UNESCO World Heritage site founded in 1051
- ▪The Dormition Cathedral was previously rebuilt after being destroyed during World War Two in 1941
- ▪Ukraine's SBU security service reported finding fragments of a Russian Geran-2 kamikaze drone at the monastery site
- ▪The 11th-century Dormition Cathedral at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery complex was set on fire and badly damaged
- ▪The fire burned roughly 800 square meters (8,600 sq ft) of the cathedral's roof
Casualty figures across cities
- ▪In Kyiv, five people were killed and at least 34 were injured, including two children aged 5 and 6
- ▪In Kharkiv, a "double-tap" strike killed four emergency service rescuers and one municipal official
- ▪The Russian strikes killed at least 11 people and wounded 53 across Ukraine
Air defense missile effectiveness
- ▪Ukraine was able to shoot down only 15 of the 34 ballistic missiles Russia launched
- ▪Ukraine's air defenses intercepted 50 of 70 missiles and 582 of 611 drones launched by Russia overnight
- ▪A Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson said that ballistic missiles "remain a problem" for the country's air defenses
International diplomatic condemnation
- ▪French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot compared the strike on the Kyiv monastery to a bombing of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris
- ▪EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and French President Emmanuel Macron described the attacks on civilians and the cathedral as "war crimes."
- ▪Metropolitan Epifaniy, head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, referred to Russian leader Vladimir Putin as the "Kremlin Antichrist."
Trump peace talks efforts
- ▪President Zelenskyy offered to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G7 summit, but the Kremlin did not respond
- ▪France, as a member of the International Criminal Court, would be obligated to arrest Vladimir Putin if he attended the G7 due to a March 2023 warrant
- ▪The war in Ukraine is on the agenda for an upcoming G7 summit in France, which President Zelenskyy is scheduled to attend
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