Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy surveyed the damage to a 1,000-year-old monastery in Kyiv on Monday (June 15) following a Russian aerial attack.

The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery, a symbol Ukraine's spiritual and cultural heritage, was badly damaged in the heaviest Russian aerial attack on Kyiv in two weeks, authorities said on Monday, while 10 people were killed nationwide in the overnight strikes.

A grand complex with striking belltowers, resplendent churches, chapels, gates and seminary buildings, the Lavra was founded by monks near the Dnipro river in 1051.

France's foreign minister said the attack on the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage site, was akin to bombing Notre Dame cathedral in Paris.

The Russian strikes came after Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday he had discussed with U.S. President Donald Trump efforts to secure an end to the more than four-year conflict, ahead of a G7 meeting in France this week.

Russia denied striking the monastery and said it had been damaged by a U.S.-made Patriot air defense missile but Zelenskiy said during a visit to the site that it had been struck by a Russian drone.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT, VOLODYMYR ZELENSKIY, SURVEYING KYIV PECHERSK LAVRA MONASTERY FOLLOWING RUSSIAN AERIAL ATTACK

SHOWS: KYIV, UKRAINE (JUNE 15, 2026) (ORIGINALLY SHOT IN PORTRAIT) (STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE OF UKRAINE - Access all)

1. VARIOUS OF UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT, VOLODYMYR ZELENSKIY, SURVEYING KYIV PECHERSK LAVRA MONASTERY FOLLOWING RUSSIAN DRONE ATTACK