Russians Exceed Own Excesses by Striking Ancient Christian Monastery in Kyiv 

Thirteen people were injured and the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery, a 1,000-year-old symbol of Ukrainian spiritual and cultural history, caught fire following a major Russian air attack on the Ukrainian capital, authorities said early on Monday, urging residents to take shelter.

The air attack damaged electricity lines and left 140,000 Kyiv residents without power, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging app, adding that some houses and cars also caught fire after being hit by drone debris.

Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities have in the past destroyed or damaged local houses of worship but this is the first time in the latest Russian war against Ukraine that it struck a church of the magnitude of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra Monastery.

The central Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery, ⁠a UNESCO World Heritage site, was seriously damaged in a direct attack, Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the capital's military administration, said in a separate Telegram post. Images of the house of worship in flames were published around the world.

"A brutal assault on our people and our heritage. This is the true face of Russia's Orthodox values," Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on X, with her post showing the monastery buildings in flames. Her denunciation of Russia’s crass disrespect for Ukraine’s culture and spirituality were echoed across Ukraine and Europe.

The city was under a massive missile attack, with a high-rise apartment building also on fire, according Kyiv authorities.

Drones continued to attack Kyiv from different directions, Ukraine's Air Force said on Telegram, with explosions heard in the city, a Reuters witness said.

Neighboring Poland, a European Union and a NATO member, has scrambled its fighter jets and put ground-based air defence systems and radar reconnaissance on a state of readiness, Poland’s Armed ‌Forces said in ⁠a post on X.

Most of Ukraine was under air raid warnings in the early hours of Monday, June 15, local time.

Five emergency service rescues were killed and at least another five injured after a second Russian strike hit Kharkiv, Ukraine's second biggest city, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on Telegram, with attacks also in the region of the city of Dnipro, according to social media posts by local authorities.

In its defensive efforts, Ukraine has recently intensified attacks on Russian industrial and energy facilities, as it tries to deprive Moscow from revenues to bring the end to the war closer.

The latest strikes come after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday, June 14, he had spoken to President Donald Trump and discussed efforts to achieve an end ⁠to the more than four-year war, ahead of a G7 meeting in France this week.

Trump told Russian fuhrer Vladimir Putin on Sunday that ending the conflict in Ukraine was vital and he was ready to help.

It seems that Trump is ready to return to focusing on Ukraine after achieving his goal with Iran. Trump must understand that the nature of Russia’s war against Ukraine as well as Kyiv’s defense against Russia’s attacks have changed. Ukraine has been causing significant damage against Russian energy and other valuable targets. Its drones have even struck Russia’s tsarist gem Petrograd causing mass hysteria in the streets.

Kyiv now has the cards & numbers that Trump gloated that Ukraine lacked. Trump must be wondering what happened? Basically he didn’t believe #Zelenskyy. He didn’t believe Ukrainians and Ukrainian American voters. He believed Putin.

Residential buildings were struck in Kyiv amid large-scale Russian missile and drone attack overnight on June 15, Ukrainian officials reported, targeting the capital with ballistic missiles and drones.

Several multi-story residential buildings were struck in the capital, officials said.

Ukraine's Air Force reported that dozens of Russian drones were approaching the Ukrainian capital amid active air defense operations. A ballistic missile threat was also issued for most of the country overnight with air raid alerts active in central and eastern regions.

Explosions were first heard in Kyiv around 1 AM local time by Kyiv Independent journalists on the ground. A second round of explosions came amid a missile threat around 1:30 AM.

Mayor Klitschko said drones had been downed over several districts of the city. Power outages were also reported in various neighborhoods of the capital.

Local military administration head Tymur Tkachenko reported a fire at a three-story residential building in the Podil district of the city. Videos posted to social media also purport to show multiple car fires within the city.

Ukrainian officials have previously warned of the renewed threat of large-scale attacks in the preceding days.

The Ukrainian Air Force on June 12 that it was highly likely to use an Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile against Ukraine on June 13, although the attack did not materialize.

The latest large-scale attack follows Russian fuhrer Vladimir Putin's ongoing rejection of a ceasefire in Ukraine. Putin rejected on June 5 Zelenskyy’s open letter calling for the immediate reopening of peace negotiations. Western European leaders cheered Zelenskyy’s offer of a ceasefire.

Putin’s repudiation of Zelenskyy’s suggestion to meet and discuss peace ahead of Moscow’s latest bombing of many Ukrainian cities including the historic Kyiv Pechersk monastery is a clear indication that peace is not Russia’s goal. If the Kremlin can’t conquer Ukraine and return it to its prison of nations then Putin will fight until the end of time. The free world must vanquish and subdue Russia first.