Overview
- Monday night Russian rocket and drone raids hit Kyiv and set fire to the Assumption Cathedral at the centuries-old Pechersk Lavra, with Ukrainian officials saying two Russian drones targeted the site and Moscow blaming a U.S. Patriot missile.
- Ukraine's Air Force said Russia fired roughly 70 rockets and 611 drones overnight and that Ukrainian defences intercepted the large majority of those munitions.
- Hours later Ukraine launched long-range drone strikes on Russian territory that damaged an oil refinery on Moscow’s outskirts, an attack President Zelenskyy acknowledged as a retaliatory response.
- Poland scrambled jets and put ground air-defences on alert while G7 leaders at the Évian summit agreed to increase pressure on Russia and discuss further sanctions and military support for Ukraine.
- The strikes caused civilian casualties and infrastructure fires on both sides, damaged a UNESCO World Heritage religious site, and raise the risk of wider regional escalation by testing air-defence limits and prompting tougher diplomatic and sanctions moves.