After Russian missile attacks on Odesa early on July 23 damaged at least six residential buildings, a Ukrainian Orthodox church, and “architectural monuments,” the Ukrainian military pledged reprisal. Odesa is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
According to a Telegram post by Ukraine’s Southern Operational Command, “dozens of cars were damaged, many city buildings’ roofs and facades were damaged, and windows were blown out.”
“Several craters have been formed in the city. There are power outages, which may hamper traffic, and the route of public transport may be changed.”
According to the statement, the strikes resulted in at least 19 injuries and the death of one individual.
On Sunday morning, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry published a video showing destroyed structures along with the statement, “God should forgive the Russians because they won’t.”
“Last night, Russian terrorists attacked Odesa once again. Six residential buildings were destroyed, and many buildings in the city center were damaged. At least one person was killed, and 19 were injured.
During the attack, the Odesa Cathedral was hit. Forgive them, Lord, because we will not”, The Defence Ministry posted.
Since Ukraine’s air defense systems in that area of the country are unable to handle the types of missiles that Moscow has deployed to attack the region, it has been difficult for Kiev to fend off a wave of Russian attacks against Odesa during the past week.
As of Thursday, Russian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that in just four days, Russia had attacked southern Ukraine with about 70 different types of missiles and nearly 90 Shahed drones.