Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced retaliation after renewed 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 today. “As always, this evil will also lose. And there will definitely be retaliation against Russian terrorists in Odessa.”
Russia canceled a grain deal with Ukraine on Monday amid international protests and has bombed Odessa every day since.
The megacity played a pivotal 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 the overnight attacks. The air defense was able to drive nine of them away.
Transfiguration Cathedral also damaged
According to Ukrainian authorities, one person was killed and 19 were injured in the attacks. Additionally, port infrastructure, residential buildings and the Transfiguration Cathedral, a city landmark, were damaged. Despite the well-documented damage, the Russian Ministry of Defense later denied responsibility for the church’s destruction.
The head of the military administration in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, Pavlo Kyrylenko, also reported on a Russian attack with cluster munitions on the town of Chasiv Yar. As a result, the city’s Palace of Culture, which was used as a medical center, caught fire. The information cannot be independently verified at this time.