Vatican embassy in Kyiv damaged by Russian airstrikes

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -The Vatican's embassy in Kyiv was slightly damaged during Russian attacks on the Ukrainian capital early on Thursday morning, the embassy said in a statement.

"During yet another attack on the city of Kyiv … this Apostolic Nunciature sustained some damage to the main building, as well as to service areas," the statement said, using the official Catholic term for the Vatican's diplomatic mission.

Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, the Vatican's ambassador to Ukraine, separately told official outlet Vatican News that he had witnessed drones circling around the embassy grounds and heard several explosions overnight.

Kulbokas said the attack damaged the embassy's roof and its parking garage.

"We collected around ten fairly large fragments, and I believe it was a drone rather than a missile," said the archbishop. "Thankfully, none of us was harmed. But it's striking, of course, to see explosions happening right nearby."

Russia's airstrikes in Ukraine came as an international conference on the three-year war was opening in Rome, at which Kyiv won billions of dollars in aid pledges.

Pope Leo met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday, and told him the Vatican would be willing to host Russia-Ukraine peace talks.

The Vatican has formal diplomatic relations with around 180 countries and maintains embassies in many world capitals. Its ambassadors are known for their devotion to remaining in post, even during war times, and rarely evacuate their embassies.

(Reporting by Joshua McElwee, editing by Alvise Armellini, Alexandra Hudson)

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