Russian Strikes Kill Nine in Ukraine, Damage Kyiv Cathedral; Drone Attack Hits Russia

Nine people have been killed and several others injured in a wave of Russian strikes on Ukraine, with a major religious landmark in the capital Kyiv catching fire, officials say.

Four people were killed in attacks on Kyiv, while five rescue workers died trying to put out a fire caused by a strike on the north-eastern city of Kharkiv, officials added.

The 11th Century Dormition Cathedral was significantly damaged in what Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko called a "brutal assault on our people and our heritage".

Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone attack in the Russian city of Tula, south of Moscow, killed three people and wounded three others, including a one-year-old, officials said.

Drone and missile strikes set fire to buildings and cars and left more than 140,000 people in Ukraine's capital without electricity, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

The Kyiv strikes, which targeted several residential buildings, left at least 23 people wounded, while five others were wounded in Kharkiv.

The Dormition Cathedral is part of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, an architectural ensemble of monastic buildings declared a Unesco World Heritage Site.

"We will be urgently initiating all relevant procedures within Unesco and all other international mechanisms, demanding immediate and adequate responses to this state barbarism," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a statement on X.

This is not the first time the cathedral has been struck. During World War Two, it was almost entirely destroyed, with the exception of its south-eastern tower, Unesco says on its website.

The cathedral was rebuilt about 25 years ago according to the architectural forms of the period of the Ukrainian Baroque in the late 18th Century, Unesco adds.

The strikes come ahead of a G7 meeting this week in France, where the war in Ukraine is on the agenda.