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Russia launched airstrikes on Kyiv, killing and wounding dozens and sparking a fire at a UNESCO world heritage site.
Russian forces carried out a large-scale drone and missile attack across the Ukrainian capital Monday, according to Reuters, Yonhap news agency reported.
The strikes killed two people and wounded at least 20 in Kyiv. Power was cut across multiple parts of the city, and fires broke out in residential buildings and vehicles.
Five locations in Kyiv were reported damaged, including a 25-story residential building, a market and a grocery store.
The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, a cave monastery designated as a UNESCO world heritage site, suffered serious damage in the fires, Tymur Tkachenko, a representative of the Kyiv city military administration, said in a Telegram statement.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko posted a video on X of the burning monastery complex, calling the attack "a barbaric assault on our people and our heritage" and denouncing it. She added: "This is the true face of the Russian Orthodox Church."
In Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city in the northeast, Russian strikes killed five rescue workers and wounded at least five others.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on Telegram that the rescue workers were killed when a follow-up strike hit them as they fought fires caused by an earlier Russian attack.
Putin, Zelensky each call Trump
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky each spoke by phone with US President Donald Trump on Sunday, the day he turned 80.
The calls covered the wars in Iran and Ukraine.
According to Russia's state-run TASS news agency, Putin congratulated Trump on his birthday and praised his "ability to pursue goals with tenacity." Zelensky also confirmed the call on social media, saying he "congratulated him on his birthday and had quite a detailed discussion on several key issues," Yonhap added. Zelensky said he "briefed Trump on the latest battlefield situation and agreed to meet for further talks at the G7 summit."
Zelensky's aide Dmytro Lytvyn told reporters Monday that the two leaders had "a substantive conversation." He said the call lasted 30 to 35 minutes and "covered everything from wishing President Trump a happy 80th birthday to diplomacy, war and peace."
yul@heraldcorp.com
