The battle for the sky above Kyiv raged overnight on Thursday as Ukrainian air defences sought to protect the capital from a relentless Russian bombardment. While the Ukrainian military claimed to have shot down 10 Russian planes and cruise missiles over the city, the remnants of one rocket tore through a 16-storey apartment building and killed at least one person.

Even though the missile had been destroyed, the fragment punched through two apartments. Concrete and dust covered the kitchen, a soft breeze rippling the lace curtains hanging around blown out windows.

Tatiana Vaskovska, a 58-year-old lawyer, was packing up what she could carry — family photographs and food — as she surveyed the wreckage of her home. She would have to move. Around her, others were in tears.

But it could have been much worse. This missile was one of 10 rockets and planes that the Ukrainian air force said it had shot down.

Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, the commander in chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, said they had destroyed a Russian Su-25 ground-attack aircraft and shot down an Su-35 fighter jet. In the morning, the silvery metallic remains of the wreckage bore testament to the fight for the air above.

(New York Times News Service)

Pope, Russia patriarch in virtual meet

Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church and Pope Francis discussed the war in Ukraine on Wednesday, Kirill’s office said, the first known contact between the two religious leaders since the conflict began.

The Moscow Patriarchy said in a statement that the two discussed the “humanitarian aspects of the ongoing crisis” and the importance of pursuing peace talks.

In its readout of the conversation, which took place in a video call, the Vatican said the pope told Kirill: “The ones who pay the price of war are the people, the Russian soldiers and the people who are bombarded and die.” (Reuters)