Latest developments Members of the Russian Wagner mercenary group who relocated to Belarus and are training the army there are keen to push across th
Latest developments:
Russian airstrikes wrecked the historic Transfiguration Cathedral in the Ukrainian city of Odesa early Sunday, prompting Kyiv to pledge retaliation for the damage to the UNESCO World Heritage site.
Father Myroslav, the assistant rector, said that there was extensive damage inside. „There was a direct hit to the cathedral; it completely damaged three altars,“ he said. Members of the clergy pulled icons from the rubble inside the cathedral. Mosaics were smashed. A security guard and clergymen were inside when the strike hit but they survived.
The destruction of the historic monument has caused outrage. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has vowed to retaliate. „They will definitely feel this,“ he said.
UNESCO issued a statement „strongly“ condemning the attack. European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell condemned the strike as a „new war crime.“
The Transfiguration Cathedral is seen heavily damaged following Russian missile strikes in Odesa, Ukraine, July 23, 2023.
The first and foremost church in the city of Odesa was founded in 1794 during the Russian empire. It was demolished under Stalin in 1936. Its rebuilding commenced in 1999 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and it was consecrated in 2003.
Separately, „A preliminary assessment in Odesa has revealed damage to several museums inside the World Heritage property, including the Odesa Archaeological Museum, the Odesa Maritime Museum and the Odesa Literature Museum. They had all been marked by UNESCO and local authorities with the Blue Shield, the distinctive emblem of the 1954 Hague Convention,“ the UNESCO statement said.
Russia’s defense ministry claimed it struck areas that were suspected of being sites of terrorist acts but denied it had struck the cathedral and said the building had probably been hit by a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile.
