The leader of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine called Putin the "Kremlin Antichrist" after a disturbing strikes on the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra complex.
Russia carried out massive missile and drone attacks on Kyiv at night (Image: Getty)
The Dormition Cathedral in Kyiv, a UNESCO-protected holy site, was hit by Russian strikes overnight, leading to comparisons between Vladimir Putin and "the Antichrist."
The leader of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine denounced the Russian President specifically as the “Kremlin Antichrist” as the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra complex was struck.
Photos after the attack showed large parts of the cathedral on fire. Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv's military administration, said the damage at the complex is substantial.
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The strikes were also compared to the 1940 bombing of London’s St. Paul’s by Nazi Germany. "This attack tonight on the Monastery by the Russians in Kyiv makes no sense. It has a parallel with the bombing of London’s St. Paul’s in 1940 by the Germans. It won’t work," tweeted Keith Kellogg, the former U.S. special envoy for Ukraine.
Russia launched 70 missiles and 611 drones at Ukraine overnight, the Ukrainian military said this morning.
Russia claimed that it did not strike the historic Pechersk Lavra monastery in Kyiv and that a US-made Patriot air defense missile had damaged the religious site.
“According to confirmed reports, the complex of buildings at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra was struck by a missile from the American Patriot air defense system. One possible reason for the malfunction of this system could be that Western countries supplied the Kyiv regime with missiles that had expired," the Russian defense ministry claimed.
Russian overnight attacks hit other parts of war-hit Ukraine. In Kharkiv, a city in northeastern Ukraine, five people were killed, and at least 20 were wounded.
President Donald Trump spoke with Putin, offering help to end the conflict in Ukraine. Yuri Ushakov, Kremlin foreign policy adviser, told the media the two leaders spoke for just under an hour.
"As regards the Ukrainian conflict, Donald Trump again emphasized that a cessation of hostilities was vital," Ushakov told journalists in comments posted on the Kremlin website.
"He said he was ready to act with European partners and Kyiv, including in talks at the G7 summit," he added, referring to the summit of G7 industrialized countries this week in the French resort of Evian.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, accompanied by the Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko and Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko, visited the site following the strikes.