Russia denies Kyiv Lavra fire and blames Patriot missile

A fire broke out at the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery complex on Sunday night, damaging the Dormition Cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Ukrainian authorities said the blaze was the result of a strike during a massive Russian military operation.

The Russian Foreign Ministry, through spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, rejected the accusation, calling it a "crude fake" and insisting that Russian forces did not target civilian or cultural sites. The Russian Defence Ministry said the damage was caused by a defective U.S.-made Patriot air‑defence missile and that the operation was aimed at military factories in the area.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the incident as an attack on the Christian community and humanity’s cultural heritage. French President Emmanuel Macron had earlier blamed Moscow, prompting Russian officials to accuse the West of diverting attention from what they termed “real crimes” by Kyiv. The dispute surfaced just before a G7 summit in France, drawing heightened international scrutiny.