The Russian military launched heavy missile strikes on Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, from 1:25 to 2:45 AM on July 19. Some of its missiles and drones struck the neighborhood of the apostolic nunciature, where Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, was spending the night.
Archbishop Gallagher began a four-day visit to Ukraine on July 17. Visting Kyiv on July 18, Archbishop Gallagher visited bombed sites and encouraged prayer for peace.
“The blasts caused the building’s glass doors to shake and forced much of its staff—as well as the author of this report—to spend the night in a designated shelter,” Roberto Paglialonga of Vatican News reported.