World leaders condemn attack on UNESCO listed Kyiv Cathedral

 ROME – World leaders have condemned the Russian drone attacks on Kyiv on Sunday night and Monday morning which set the 11^th Century Dormition Cathedral on fire and left the building severely damaged, including French President Emannuel Macron who described the attacks as an "attack on our universal heritage" in a statement on X. 

 Kyiv Cathedral is part of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra UNESCO World Heritage site, which has been inscribed on the UNESCO list since 1990. The site is one of the most important religious and cultural symbols for the Ukrainian people.

 Footage from Ukraine shows a gaping hole in one side of the cathedral and most of the roof collapsed and burnt. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the cathedral attack as “one of Russia’s most serious crimes ​against Christian culture to date.” French Foreign Minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, compared the attack as "the equivalent [...] of bombing Notre-Dame," highlighting the site's religious importance as one of the holiest sites in the Eastern Orthodox Church. 

 Italian Minister of Culture, Alessandro Giuli, condemned the attacks as “an attack on a treasure that belongs to all of humanity,” in a statement released on Monday. Giuli said he “strongly” condemned the “serious attack” against the Cathedral, adding that it “constitutes an affront to the memory, to the identity of peoples and universal values of the international community.” He added that “the protection of cultural heritage must remain an inviolable principle even in times of conflict.”

 The attack also drew criticism from Moldovan President, Maia Sandu, who said the "Kremlin has shown again nothing is sacred to it." The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, described the attack as "war crimes." 

 President Zelenskyy has called on the G7 to put more pressure on Russia and give a "decisive" response to the attacks. 

 Russia denied responsibility for the attack, saying that it was a US-manufactured Patriot air defence missile that hit the cathedral. However, the Kremlin did not provide any evidence to support this claim.

 Other attacks through Sunday night and Monday morning saw four people killed in Kyiv and five people killed while trying to extinguish a fire in Kharkiv.