Japan fans use blue bags to uphold a cleansing World Cup tradition after draw

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Those blue bags Japan fans waved in a frenzy after their team got a late tying goal were then used after the final whistle to maintain what has become a cleansing World Cup tradition.

The Samurai Blue fans cleaned up before they left the stadium Sunday, picking up trash from the stands after Japan's 2-2 draw against the Netherlands in Group F.

Only a few minutes earlier, those then-empty blue bags were prominent in the celebration when Daichi Kamada scored on a header off Koki Ogawa’s corner kick in the 88th minute.

Along with the constant chants for their team, those bags the fans bring to the stadium are often raised in unison. The scene becomes frantic after goals, such as Keito Nakamura's earlier in the second half to tie the game at 1-all and Kamada's shot that ultimately secured a point for Japan.

Scenes of Japanese soccer fans picking up and sweeping trash first drew public attention during the team's first World Cup appearance in France in 1998. They have done it every four years since, including in Qatar in 2022.

Now they have left their mark and no trash at AT&T Stadium, home of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys, where workers usually have a lot more cleanup duty after games.

AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

Bags of trash collected by Japan fans sits in the empty stands following the World Cup Group F soccer match between the Netherlands and Japan in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Jessica Tobias)

Japan fans clean up trash in the stadium following the World Cup Group F soccer match between the Netherlands and Japan in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Jessica Tobias)

Japan fans clean up trash in the stadium following the World Cup Group F soccer match between the Netherlands and Japan in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Jessica Tobias)

Japan fans clean up trash in the stadium following the World Cup Group F soccer match between the Netherlands and Japan in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Jessica Tobias)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A large-scale Russian attack on Ukraine killed rescue personnel in Kharkiv and four people in the capital Kyiv on Monday as strikes set apartment buildings ablaze and sparked a fire at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, one of the country’s most significant religious landmarks.

Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia launched 70 missiles and 611 drones overnight, primarily targeting Kyiv, while also striking the cities of Dnipro and Kharkiv. The military said air defenses intercepted or electronically suppressed 632 aerial targets, including 50 missiles and 582 drones. Preliminary data showed 20 ballistic missiles and 27 attack drones hit 42 locations across the country, while debris from intercepted drones fell at 12 sites.

A series of powerful explosions echoed across Kyiv, with a wave of ballistic missiles followed by Shahed drones as many people sought shelter underground and officials urged residents to take cover.

Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said four people were killed and at least 30 were injured, including two children aged 5 and 6.

Five strikes hit civilian sites in the city’s Shevchenkivskyi district in less than 30 minutes, he said, including a 25-story apartment building, while a market and a grocery store caught fire. In the Obolonskyi district, a nine-story residential building took a direct hit.

Striking apartment blocks was a “deliberate decision” by Russia, he said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said it carried out a strike with long-range precision weapons and drones on military industrial facilities in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Dnipro, as well as military conscription offices and military air bases. It said “the goals of the strikes have been fulfilled and all the designated facilities have been hit.”

Russia’s Defense Ministry said air defenses downed 123 Ukrainian drones overnight.

In Kharkiv, authorities said Russian forces used a “double tap” tactic, launching four additional drone strikes on the site of an earlier attack in the Kholodnohirskyi district after emergency crews had arrived.

Four emergency service workers and an employee of the Kharkiv City Council’s emergency department were killed, while six rescuers and three civilians were injured. Separately, a woman was injured in the city’s Shevchenkivskyi district, where residential buildings and vehicles were damaged in a drone strike.

In Dnipro, one of the buildings of a local college was destroyed, while the blast wave shattered windows at a school and the city’s House of Organ and Chamber Music, according to Dnipropetrovsk regional administration head Oleksandr Hanzha.

Two people were injured and infrastructure, businesses, a college and cultural institutions were damaged. Russian forces also carried out nearly 30 attacks using drones, artillery, missiles and guided aerial bombs in Dnipro as well as the Kryvyi Rih, Pavlohrad, Synelnykove and Nikopol districts.

In the Sumy region, three people including a child were injured after a Russian strike hit an apartment building and damaged a non-residential structure, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said.

Damage at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, a monastic complex, was substantial and a serious fire had broken out, said Tkachenko, who accused Russia of deliberately striking “the heart of one of the largest Christian shrines.”

The roof of the Dormition Cathedral caught fire during the overnight attack, said Metropolitan Epiphanius, head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. He condemned the strike as another Russian crime “against humanity, against history, against Christianity” and appealed for prayers to save the site.

The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, also known as the Monastery of the Caves, is a sprawling complex of monasteries and churches, including some underground, built from the 11th to the 19th century. Some of the churches at the UNESCO-listed World Heritage site are connected by a labyrinthine complex of caves spanning more than 600 meters (2,000 feet).

The cathedral, churches and other buildings overlook the right bank of the Dnipro River and have been a pilgrimage site for centuries.

Local residents gather near the entrance to a damaged residential building following an overnight Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)

A local resident uses a firehose to extinguish a fire at a building following an overnight Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)

A woman stands at a street near a damaged building following an overnight Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)

An explosion of a Russian drone is seen on the horizon in front of the Mother Motherland monument of Second World War during a Russian strike on Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Rescue workers put out a fire of the Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, also known as the Monastery of the Caves during a Russian strike on Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Rescue workers try to put out a fire at the Dormition Cathedral of thousand-year-old Monastery of Caves, also known as Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, following a Russian strike on Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

The roof of the Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra is on fire during the overnight Russian attack on Kyiv, Ukraine Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)

The roof of the Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra burns, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)