Russia has launched one of its largest air strikes on Ukraine since the war started three years ago on a maternity ward in the southern city of Odesa, killing at least three people, according to officials.
The strike, which occurred overnight, followed Russia’s biggest drone assault in the war on Ukraine on Monday and was part of retaliation for attacks by Ukrainian forces on Russia.
The Russian attack also damaged Saint Sophia Cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage site located in the historic centre of Kyiv, according to Ukrainian Culture Minister Mykola Tochytskyi.
“The enemy struck at the very heart of our identity again,” Tochytskyi wrote on Facebook about the site he called “the soul of all Ukraine”.
The explosions shook Kyiv and blasts as fires lit up the sky in the early hours of Tuesday morning, leaving heavy smoke over the city, before authorities deployed two firefighting helicopters to douse the flames. In the aftermath, at least four people were treated in hospital after seven of the capital’s 10 districts were hit, city officials said.
“Today was one of the largest attacks on Kyiv. Russian missile and Shahed (drone) strikes drown out the efforts of the United States and others around the world to force Russia into peace.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.
