Transfiguration Cathedral damaged
Zelenskyj promises revenge for Odessa
7/23/2023 3:22 p.m
Russian missiles hit residential buildings, port buildings and the Odessa Cathedral. President Zelenskyj announces retaliation on his Telegram channel. Evil will lose. His chief of staff calls for more defense systems.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced retaliation after the new Russian attacks on the Black Sea port city of Odessa. “Missiles against peaceful cities, against residential buildings, against a cathedral… There can be no excuse for Russian evil,” Zelenskyy wrote on his Telegram channel. “As always, this evil will also lose. And there will definitely be retaliation against the Russian terrorists in Odessa.”
In his video message distributed on Saturday evening, the Ukrainian President accused Russia of terrorism against the people in the city of millions and announced that he would punish Russia for it. The chief of staff of the presidential office, Andriy Yermak, called for more missile defense systems and tactical missiles for his country in view of the renewed Russian shelling. According to Kiev, Russia specifically targeted port infrastructure to make it impossible to resume Ukrainian grain exports across the Black Sea. The Russian army declares that it will only shell military installations.
Last Monday, amid international protests, Russia withdrew from an international grain agreement with Ukraine and has been bombing Odessa every day since then. The megacity played a central role in the export of food across the Black Sea. According to Ukrainian sources, a total of 19 Russian rockets and cruise missiles were fired during attacks on Sunday night.
Russia denies everything
Air defense was able to fend off nine of them. According to the Ukrainian authorities, one person was killed and 22 injured in the attacks. In addition, port infrastructure, residential buildings and the Transfiguration Cathedral, a landmark of the city, were damaged.
Despite the well-documented damage, the Russian Defense Ministry later denied responsibility for the destruction of the church. The head of the military administration in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, Pavlo Kyrylenko, also reported on a Russian attack with cluster munitions on the city of Chasiv Yar. As a result, the city’s Palace of Culture, which was used as a medical center, burned down.
Several museums in the World Heritage-listed Old Town were also damaged in the attacks, drawing strong criticism. The historic center of Odessa was added to the Unesco List of World Heritage in Danger in January 2023 as a result of the Russian war.