Russian missiles badly damaged a historic Orthodox cathedral in the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa. The strikes killed at least one person and injured several others, Ukrainian officials said. The attacks also destroyed other historic buildings, Ukraine’s culture ministry said. The Transfiguration Cathedral is Odesa’s largest church building and was consecrated in 1809. It was destroyed during the Soviet era in 1936 after which it was rebuilt. It lies in Odesa’s city center and was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Ukraine’s operational command said “dozens of cars were damaged, facades and roofs of many buildings in the city were damaged and windows were blown out” in the strikes, adding, “Several craters have been formed in the city. There are power outages, which may hamper traffic and the route of public transport may be changed.”
The Russian defense ministry denied targeting the cathedral and said it carried out attacks on where “terrorist acts” were being prepared.
Ukrainian prsident Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack, saying, “Missiles against peaceful cities, against residential buildings, a cathedral… There can be no excuse for Russian evil. As always, this evil will lose and there will definitely be a retaliation to Russian terrorists for Odesa. They will feel this retaliation."
“I am grateful to everyone who is helping people and to everyone who is with Odesa in their thoughts and emotions. We will get through this. We will restore peace. And for this, we must defeat the Russian evil," the Ukrainian leader said.
{{/usCountry}}“I am grateful to everyone who is helping people and to everyone who is with Odesa in their thoughts and emotions. We will get through this. We will restore peace. And for this, we must defeat the Russian evil," the Ukrainian leader said.
{{/usCountry}}EU”s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell tweeted that “Russia has already damaged hundreds of cultural sites, trying to destroy Ukraine.”