The Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday that it had launched "a massive strike using long-range precision air, land, and sea-based weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles against defense industry facilities in the cities of Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Dnepropetrovsk, as well as military airfields and territorial procurement centers," according to a post on Telegram. 

Russia fired a barrage of missiles at several major Ukrainian cities, setting Kyiv's historic Dormition Cathedral on fire and killing nine, while Ukraine strikes claimed three lives south of Moscow.

Five rescue workers were killed during firefighting operations in northeast Ukraine, while at least five others were wounded after Russian strikes hit the city of Kharkiv, Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said on Monday.

The violence killed another four people in the capital, where fire broke out on the grounds of the UNESCO world heritage site Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and the roof of the Dormition Cathedral was on fire.

Residents were seen running through the streets seeking shelter as projectiles were intercepted in the sky and glowing debris fell across the city, AFP journalists in the capital reported.

(With input from AFP)