Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery set ablaze in Russian airstrike, at least 9 killed

Russian aerial attacks swept across Ukraine overnight, hitting Kyiv and Kharkiv and causing at least nine deaths and dozens of injuries. A large‑scale strike hit the historic Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage site, igniting flames in the Dormition Cathedral and other parts of the complex. Ukrainian officials, including Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko and Metropolitan Epiphany of Kyiv, condemned the attack as a crime against humanity and called for prayers to save the monastery.

The assaults also caused casualties in Kharkiv, where five rescuers were killed and five more wounded. In retaliation, three people were killed in Russia's Tula region by a Ukrainian drone raid. Poland, a NATO member, placed its fighter jets and air‑defence systems on heightened alert following the strikes.