Russia strikes Odesa Cathedral as Zelensky vows ‘retaliation’
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The 18th-century Transfiguration Cathedral was badly damaged in the strike on July 23.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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KYIV – Russia’s latest strike on Odesa on Sunday killed two people and severely damaged a historic Orthodox cathedral, drawing a vow of retaliation from Ukraine’s leader.
The 18th-century Transfiguration Cathedral, the biggest Orthodox church in Odesa, lies within the Unesco-protected historic city centre.
Locals looked in disbelief as the cathedral – originally built in 1794 under imperial Russian rule – was badly damaged.
Clergymen rescued icons from rubble inside the badly damaged shrine, which was demolished under Stalin in 1936 and rebuilt in the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Ukraine said it had been “destroyed twice: by Stalin and Putin”, referring to former Soviet leader Josef Stalin and Russian President Vladimir Putin. It said the cathedral strike was a “war crime”.
Images showed smashed mosaics on the cathedral floor as workers cleared the rubble. The outside of the building appeared intact.
“There was a direct hit to the cathedral, it completely damaged three altars,” Father Myroslav, the assistant rector of the cathedral, said.
Ukraine said the Transfiguration Cathedral had been “destroyed twice: by Stalin and Putin”.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed to retaliate against Russian forces.
“Missiles against peaceful cities, against residential buildings, a cathedral,” Mr Zelensky said. “There will definitely be a retaliation against Russian terrorists for Odesa. They will feel this retaliation.”
Russia blamed the cathedral damage on Ukrainian air defence. Moscow said it had hit all its intended targets in the Odesa strike, claiming the sites were being used to prepare “terrorist acts” against Russia.
Russia launched another wave of overnight attacks on Odesa early on Sunday.
“Odesa: another night attack of the monsters,” said Mr Oleh Kiper, governor of broader southern Ukraine’s Odesa region, of which the city of Odesa is an administrative centre, on the Telegram messaging app.
Russia has been pounding Odesa and other Ukrainian food export facilities
