According to the authorities, at least one person was killed in renewed Russian attacks on the Ukrainian port city of Odessa on the Black Sea. 19 other people were injured on Sunday night, including four children, said the head of the military administration, Oleh Kiper, on his Telegram channel. According to the authorities, port infrastructure and six residential buildings were damaged.
The Transfiguration Cathedral was also hit. Photos on social networks showed significant damage to the well-known Orthodox church. Despite the well-documented damage, the Russian Defense Ministry later denied responsibility for the destruction of the church.
According to the Ukrainian military, the Russians used five different types of missiles and cruise missiles in their recent attacks. After all, most of the projectiles could have been warded off by the air defense, it was said. Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security Council Oleksiy Danilov said Russia intends to use intimidation to sabotage international efforts to reopen the grain deal.
For days now, Russia has been bombing the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odessa and destroying grain stores there – under the pretext that there are military targets there. Odessa was one of the ports through which Ukraine shipped grain under the international grain agreement. Russia let this agreement expire earlier last week.
Selenskyj threatens retaliation
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced retaliation after the new Russian attacks. “Missiles against peaceful cities, against residential buildings, against a cathedral… There can be no excuse for Russian evil,” Zelenskyy wrote on his Telegram channel on Sunday. “As always, this evil will also lose. And there will definitely be retaliation against the Russian terrorists in Odessa.” Selenskyj had already accused Russia of terror against the people of Odessa in his video message distributed on Saturday evening and announced that he would punish Russia for it.
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.
