A wave of Russian missile and drone strikes across Ukraine has killed at least nine people and wounded dozens more, with significant damage reported in the capital Kyiv and the northeastern city of Kharkiv.

Four people were killed in attacks on Kyiv, while five rescue workers died trying to extinguish a fire caused by a Russian strike in Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials said. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported that drone and missile strikes set buildings and cars ablaze, leaving over 140,000 residents without electricity.

The 11th-century Dormition Cathedral in the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery complex was severely damaged. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko called it a “brutal assault on our people and our heritage.” Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha urged UNESCO and other international bodies to respond to what he termed “state barbarism.”

On the Russian side, a Ukrainian drone attack in the city of Tula killed three people and wounded three others, including a one-year-old child. Most of Ukraine remained under air raid warnings on Monday.

Poland scrambled fighter jets and placed ground-based air defense systems on alert in a “preventive” response to the Russian strikes. The attacks come ahead of a G7 meeting in France, where the war in Ukraine is on the agenda. On Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he spoke with US President Donald Trump about ending the long-running conflict.

Source: www.bbc.com