'Large-scale' Russian attack kills five and leaves more wounded as huge blaze erupts at religious landmark

'Large-scale' Russian attack kills five and leaves more wounded as huge blaze erupts at religious landmark The attack has been labelled a crime “against humanity, against history" as a historical cathedral was substantially damaged with apartment blocks also alight leaving many wounded A large-scale Russian attack on Ukraine has killed five and left at least 20 wounded as a religious landmark is ablaze. The strike sparked a fire at one of the country's most significant religious landmarks in the capital Kyiv, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. The attack took place on Monday, June 15 and images from the scene show apartment buildings engulfed by flames following the incident. The five dead, were killed in Kharkiv by a second Russian strike as they fought a blaze caused by an earlier attack, interior minister Ihor Klymenko said. The minister added that at least five other emergency workers were wounded. Head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, Tymur Tkachenko, accused Russia of deliberately striking “the heart of one of the largest Christian shrines” as there is substantial damage at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, a monastic complex. The roof of the Dormition Cathedral caught fire during the overnight attack, said Metropolitan Epiphanius, head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. He condemned the strike as another Russian crime “against humanity, against history, against Christianity” and appealed for prayers to save the site. Twenty people, including a child, sought medical help in the capital, said Tkachenko. He said that five strikes hit civilian sites in the city’s Shevchenkivskyi district in less than 30 minutes, including a 25-story apartment building, while a market and a grocery store caught fire. In the Obolonskyi district, a nine-story residential building took a direct hit. “This is their deliberate decision,” he said.