Russia ‘deliberately’ targeted Unesco site, Zelenskyy says, as 11 confirmed dead
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy also insisted the Russian attack “deliberately” targeted the Unesco-listed religious site, despite denials from Moscow.
In a post on X, he said:
“It has been confirmed that two Russian drones deliberately targeted the part of the city where the Lavra and the Mystetskyi Arsenal are located.
As of now, 35 people are reported injured in Kyiv. Across the country, 53 people have been wounded, and 11 people are known to have been killed in this massive Russian attack.”
Key events
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Zelenskyy says he offered to meet Putin on sidelines of G7 summit
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Russian strikes on Kyiv shows ‘little willingness’ to end conflict, Germany sas
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Russia ‘deliberately’ targeted Unesco site, Zelenskyy says, as 11 confirmed dead
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Unesco condemns Russian attack, fears ‘significant’ damage to Kyiv cathedral
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Sideline meetings taking place ahead of G7 summit later today
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Kyiv attacks ‘yet another reminder’ of Russian escalation, EU’s Costa says
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Two Shahed drones on site of cathedral strike contradict Russian claims
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Sweden wants European allies to move on Russia’s shadow fleet
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G7 summit to discuss pressure on Russia, how to bring Putin to negotiating table, EU’s von der Leyen says
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Russia claims it didn’t strike historic monastery, blames Ukraine air defence for damage
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Russian attacks on civilian targets amount to ‘war crimes’ and Moscow ‘will have to anwer for them,’ EU’s top diplomat says
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G7 summit to discuss Ukraine peace after unjustified strike on monastery, Macron says
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Morning opening: G7, EU leaders meet after deadly strikes on Kyiv, including Unesco-listed religious site
Zelenskyy says he offered to meet Putin on sidelines of G7 summit
Separately, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he had offered to meet Vladimir Putin at a G7 summit in France this week for talks to end a four-year war, but the Russian leader was not ready to speak.
“We gave message that we are ready to meet with Putin during [the] G7, because Trump is there and Macron is there, so Europeans plus America. This is a good, I think, very good opportunity to meet all together,” Zelenskyy told reporters in English, as reported by Reuters.
“Europe and the United States were agreed and Russia demonstrated again that… they are not ready to speak,” he said.
Russian strikes on Kyiv shows ‘little willingness’ to end conflict, Germany sas
Meanwhile, Germany has joined the list of countries condemning “in the strongest possible terms” an overnight missile barrage blamed on Russia that struck Kyiv’s monastery quarter and set the Unesco-listed Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra site ablaze.
“This shows how little willingness there is on the Russian side to do anything to help de-escalate and resolve this conflict,” a government spokesperson said in Berlin, quoted by AFP.
Russia ‘deliberately’ targeted Unesco site, Zelenskyy says, as 11 confirmed dead
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy also insisted the Russian attack “deliberately” targeted the Unesco-listed religious site, despite denials from Moscow.
In a post on X, he said:
“It has been confirmed that two Russian drones deliberately targeted the part of the city where the Lavra and the Mystetskyi Arsenal are located.
As of now, 35 people are reported injured in Kyiv. Across the country, 53 people have been wounded, and 11 people are known to have been killed in this massive Russian attack.”
Unesco condemns Russian attack, fears ‘significant’ damage to Kyiv cathedral
Meanwhile, Unesco has formally condemned the Russian strikes on Ukraine that hit the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, “one of Ukraine’s most significant spiritual and cultural landmarks.”
In a statement, the body said:
“The strike reportedly caused significant damage to the exterior and interior of the Dormition Cathedral. Adjacent historic structures, including elements of the Lavra’s fortification complex and Ivan Kushnik Tower, were also reportedly impacted.
Unesco condemns attacks against cultural property, educational institutions, students, education personnel and media professionals protected under international law. Damage to such institutions deprives communities of access to culture, education, and shared spaces that are essential for recovery and social cohesion.
Unesco stands ready to support relevant authorities in assessing damage to cultural and educational institutions and identifying urgent measures within its mandate.”
Sideline meetings taking place ahead of G7 summit later today
The G7 summit will not formally kick off until later today, but the EU’s von der Leyen and Costa are meeting with the president of the Swiss Confederation Guy Parmelin now as part of the build up to the meeting.
There are more of this sort of diplomatic meetings on the sidelines of the main event: Italy’s Giorgia Meloni is hosting Japan’s prime minister Sanae Takaichi in Rome, before travelling to France later today.
Kyiv attacks ‘yet another reminder’ of Russian escalation, EU’s Costa says
Meanwhile, the European Council president, António Costa, said that “the massive bombings and attacks overnight targeting civilians and the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, a Unesco site, are yet another reminder that Russia is continuing its escalation.”
He added:
“These attacks demonstrate Russia’s unwillingness to engage seriously in peace negotiations. But time is not on Russia’s side.
When G7 Leaders meet in Evian today, we will discuss how to increase pressure on Russia to come to the negotiating table for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.”
Two Shahed drones on site of cathedral strike contradict Russian claims
Peter Beaumont
in Kyiv
Outside the Perchersk-Lavra complex on Monday morning a group of state security officers stood over the remains of two Shahed drones at the site, contradicting the Russian claim (10:03).
Further along the road, a tumbled gilded dome lay in the street where it had been toppled by a drone that had struck the upper floors of the Art Arsenal museum space.
“I only heard one of the two strikes at 4.55am in the morning,” said a young priest who volunteers as an army chaplain and declined to give his name. “The explosion was massive and blew open one of our windows,” he added as he tugged at a section of copper roofing. “Everything was shaking.”
“I’m from Bakhmut [the Donbas city levelled during Russia’s devastating siege and capture]. This site is important to everyone. But for the Russians nothing is sacred there is no sanctuary. They will claim there was a military object here because they have no values.”
Ukraine would be “urgently initiating” procedures within Unesco and other international mechanisms to ensure “immediate and adequate responses to this state barbarism”, the foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said on X in reference to the monastery attack.
Sweden wants European allies to move on Russia’s shadow fleet
Jennifer Rankin
in Brussels
Sweden has urged European allies to do more to constrain Russia’s shadow fleet, which keeps oil revenues flowing to fund the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine.
Sweden has intercepted five shadow fleet vessels so far this year and would like other countries to do more to stop these old, often poorly maintained vessels that transport Russian oil in defiance of western sanctions.
In a joint letter to EU leaders, Sweden’s minister for foreign affairs, Maria Stenergard, and minister for civil defence, Carl-Oskar Bohlin, wrote:
“It is crucial that all member states share the responsibility to constrain the ecosystem that supports these vessels.”
The ministers also write that the shadow fleet “undermines maritime safety standards and poses environmental risks to our waters”.
In a statement Stenergard said:
“The shadow fleet is funding drones and missiles hitting Ukraine. If we’re serious about bringing the war to an end, acting against the shadow fleet is not optional.”
The intervention came after British armed forces seized a shadow fleet oil tanker on Sunday for the first time since the war in Ukraine. France and Belgium have taken similar actions in the past.
Sweden also urged swift adoption of the EU’s latest proposed sanctions against Russia, which include measures to constrain Russia’s oil revenues in response to surging oil prices. The EU’s 21st sanctions package, proposed last week, would maintain the current oil price cap at $44 a barrel until next January to limit Russian gains from rising oil prices.
According to Sweden, Russia’s oil revenues were down 50% year on year in January 2026 – before Donald Trump launched his war in Iran, plunging oil markets into turmoil. European countries fear that rising oil prices are putting more money into the Kremlin’s war chest.
G7 summit to discuss pressure on Russia, how to bring Putin to negotiating table, EU’s von der Leyen says
European Commission’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, does not seem to be particularly convinced by the Russian explanations though.
Posting ahead of the G7 summit, she said:
“We will discuss the next steps to increase pressure on Russia, bring Putin to the negotiating table, and end this senseless killing.
Europe wants peace. Nobody more than the Ukrainian people. Russia, on the other hand, showed again its sole interest in violence and destruction.”
Russia claims it didn’t strike historic monastery, blames Ukraine air defence for damage
Meanwhile, Russia claimed it did not strike the historic Pechersk Lavra monastery in Kyiv in an overnight attack on military factories in the Ukrainian capital and that a US-made Patriot air defence missile had damaged the religious site.
The armed forces of the Russian Federation do not plan or carry out strikes against civilian infrastructure,” the Russian defence ministry said in a statement quoted by Reuters.
“One possible reason for the malfunction of this system could be that western countries supplied the Kyiv regime with missiles that had expired,” it added.
Russian attacks on civilian targets amount to ‘war crimes’ and Moscow ‘will have to anwer for them,’ EU’s top diplomat says
EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the overnight attacks on Ukrainian civilian targets and a Unesco world heritage site in Kyiv amounted to “war crimes” and “Russia will have to answer for them.”
Kallas, chairing the meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers today, added:
“In response, today we are adopting additional sanctions targeting Russia’s military-industrial complex and its shadow fleet. Every measure further restricts Russia’s room for manoeuvre.”
G7 summit to discuss Ukraine peace after unjustified strike on monastery, Macron says
The G7 summit host, France’s president Emmanuel Macron, also condemned the attack on the Unesco-listed Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery.
In a post on X, he said that “nothing justifies this attack on our universal heritage.”
“France stands ready to cooperate with the Ukrainian authorities in charge of heritage.
This attack only strengthens our determination to do everything, with our allies and partners, to work toward a ceasefire that Russia continues to obstinately refuse, and then toward peace. We will strive for this at the G7 in Evian.”
Morning opening: G7, EU leaders meet after deadly strikes on Kyiv, including Unesco-listed religious site
Jakub Krupa
G7 leaders are set to meet in Évian-les-Bains in France later today to discuss the most pressing issues, including Ukraine, Gaza, and Iran.
The summit, hosted by France’s Emmanuel Macron, will see the US president, Donald Trump, give the leaders the latest on the Iran peace deal struck overnight, as he also kept himself busy with a martial arts gala at the White House.
But as our diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour, notes,
“the French president has no idea if Trump, a haphazard summit attender, will last the full three days – or disrupt the proceedings every hour he stays.”
On Monday, some 20,000 people clashed with police in nearby Geneva as part of broad demonstrations against the meeting of the world’s leaders.
Separately, EU foreign ministers are also meeting in Luxembourg, with a pretty similar agenda.
The issue of Ukraine will feature prominently in both meetings, after another Russian attack overnight which saw at least nine killed, and more than 20 injured after heavy strikes on Kyiv.
The Unesco-listed Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery was also hit during the attacks, with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy calling it “one of Russia’s most serious crimes against Christian culture to date.”
Zelenskyy said:
“This is how Russia shows the world its intention to continue the war.
It is very important that there be a response from the G7 countries, which are now gathering for their summit – and that this response be decisive and substantive: more pressure on the aggressor and more support for Ukraine’s air defence, especially anti-ballistic capabilities.”
France led the condemnations, with foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot saying the attack on the religious site was “the equivalent, for us in France, as if Notre Dame or Saint Denis had been bombed, which is totally unacceptable.”
I will bring you all the latest here.
It’s Monday, 15 June 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
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