The China Mail - Deadly strikes on Ukraine leave Kyiv cathedral in flames

The wave of attacks came as news of a US-Iran deal started to open a path to peace in the Middle East war, highlighting the lack of progress toward an end to over four years of fighting in Ukraine.

Five rescue workers were killed during firefighting operations in northeast Ukraine, while at least five others were wounded after Russian strikes hit the city of Kharkiv, Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said Monday.

The violence killed another four people in the capital, where fire broke out on the grounds of the UNESCO world heritage site Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and the roof of the Dormition Cathedral was on fire.

Residents were seen running through the streets seeking shelter as projectiles were intercepted in the sky and glowing debris fell across the city, AFP journalists in the capital witnessed.

More than a dozen fire trucks surrounded the cathedral with firefighters working tirelessly to extinguish the blaze from the inside and from aerial platforms, an AFP journalist saw.

A gaping hole could be seen on one side of the church, with flames visible from the roof which has been partially destroyed.

- 'Repeated Russian strikes' -

Russian attacks damaged several buildings in the complex in January, the Ministry of Culture reported at the time.

The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, a monastery with emblematic golden domes, had made headlines in recent years after the expulsion of its monks, who were accused of having ties with Moscow.

The Orthodox Church of Ukraine officially broke away from Russia in 2022 and two years later the Ukrainian government went so far as to ban the Ukraine branch of the Orthodox Church linked to Moscow.

Institutionally, the Russian Orthodox Church has stood full-square behind President Vladimir Putin since he launched Russia's offensive on Ukraine in 2022.

Head of the local military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, condemned the "direct strike" on the site.

Kyiv's Metropolitan Epiphanius also denounced the attack as a "crime against humanity, history and Christianity."

At least 23 people have been reported to have been injured in the capital and 140,000 residents in the northern districts left without electricity.

The major city of Kharkiv, in the northeast, also came under missile attack.

"Five State Emergency Service rescuers were killed during firefighting operations as a result of a repeated Russian strike," Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said on Telegram. At least nine people were also injured.

The head of the Sumy region, Oleg Grygorov, said three people had been wounded in the northeastern district, including a child.

A Ukrainian drone strike killed three people and wounded three others in the Russian city of Tula, around 200 kilometres (120 miles) south of Moscow, the regional governor Dmitry Milyaev said on Monday.

- Peace talks -

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian leader Vladimir Putin both called their US counterpart Donald Trump on Sunday to discuss the conflict in Ukraine.

Zelensky said on X that he had "discussed things that could help bring about peace now," while his adviser Dmytro Lytvyn told the press he was pleased with a "quite substantive conversation about everything" between the leaders.

The Kremlin, for its part, said that the conversation between Putin and Trump focused on peace negotiations with the United States and Iran.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has turned into Europe's worst conflict since World War II, with thousands of civilians and hundreds of thousands of troops killed.

Amid near-daily pummelling of its cities by Russian drones and missiles, Ukraine has in recent weeks stepped up its own aerial attacks, which it says mostly target Russia's oil infrastructure to sap its profits that fund the war.

Kremlin adviser Yury Ushakov told the press that "US presidential special representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who are currently closely involved in Iranian affairs, will return to Russia soon".

N.Lo--ThChM