One killed, many injured, cathedral wrecked in latest Russian attack on Ukraine’s Odesa
Odesa – Russia attacked the Ukrainian Black Sea city of Odesa again on Sunday, local officials say, in an ongoing barrage that has damaged vital port infrastructure in southern Ukraine over the past week. At least one person was killed and 22 wounded in the early morning attack.
Regional governor Ole Kipel said four children were among those injured in the explosion that severely damaged the historic Transfiguration Cathedral, a landmark Orthodox cathedral in the city.
Russia has launched a relentless attack on the key stronghold of Odesa. grain exportThat’s because Moscow canceled a landmark grain deal on Monday amid Kiev’s desperate efforts to reclaim occupied territories.
Kipper noted that six residential buildings, including apartments, were destroyed during the strike.
In one such incident in downtown Odesa, damage from the raid littered roads with debris, blocked some roads, and damaged power lines, leaving some people trapped in apartments.
85-year-old Svitlana Morcharova was rescued by paramedics. But even after receiving her first medical procedure, she refused to leave the destroyed apartment.
“I will stay here,” she said to paramedics, who advised her to leave.
“I woke up when the ceiling started falling on me. He fled the city of Mykolaiv and came to Odessa in search of a safer place to live after his house was destroyed.
“So I lost my house in Mykolaiv, and I lost the apartment I rented here.”
At his home, the ceiling partially collapsed, the balcony fell off the side of the building, and all the windows were blown out.
The Transfiguration Cathedral, one of the most important and largest Orthodox cathedrals in Odesa, was severely damaged.
“The destruction was so extensive that half the cathedral was roofless,” Archdeacon Andriy Palchuk said as firefighters extinguished the fire with water flooding the floor and cathedral officials hauling papers and valuables out of the fortified building.
Palchuk said the damage was caused by a direct hit from a Russian missile that penetrated the building to the basement and caused significant damage. Two people inside the house at the time of the attack were injured.
“But with God’s help we will restore it,” he said through tears.
The historic center of Odesa was declared a World Heritage Site of Endangered Species by UNESCO, the United Nations cultural agency, earlier this year despite objections from Russia.
A Russian attack earlier this week crippled a large region. Export facility in Odessa According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Agriculture, 60,000 tonnes of grain were also destroyed in Chornomok and nearby Chornomok.
The attack took place days after President Vladimir Putin withdrew Russia The Black Sea Grains Initiative was a wartime pact that allowed Ukrainian exports to reach many countries facing the threat of starvation.
Putin vowed on Monday to retaliate against Kiev for its attack on the key Kerch Bridge, which links Russia to Crimea, which the Kremlin illegally annexed in 2014.
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