Russian attack sets fire to religious site in Kyiv, kills 5 in Kharkiv.

Rescue workers tried to put out a fire at the Dormition Cathedral of the thousand-year-old Monastery of the Caves, also known as Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, following a Russian strike on Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday, June 15, 2026, The Associated Press reported.

A series of powerful explosions echoed across Kyiv, with a wave of ballistic missiles followed by Shahed drones, as many people sought shelter underground and officials urged residents to take cover. Twenty people, including a child, sought medical help in the capital, said Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration. Five strikes hit civilian sites in the city’s Shevchenkivskyi district in less than 30 minutes, he said, including a 25-story apartment building, while a market and a grocery store caught fire.

The rescuers were killed in Kharkiv by a second Russian strike as they fought a blaze caused by an earlier attack, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said. At least five other emergency workers were wounded.

Tkachenko accused Russia of deliberately striking apartment blocks. "This is their deliberate decision," he said.

Some of the churches at the UNESCO-listed World Heritage site are connected by a labyrinthine complex of caves spanning more than 600 meters (2,000 feet). The cathedral, churches and other buildings overlook the right bank of the Dnipro River and have been a pilgrimage site for centuries.