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 is the biggest Orthodox church in Odesa.
The strike on the port city came just hours before Russian President Putin met his Belarus counterpart Alexander Lukashenko. Putin claimed Kyiv’s counteroffensive had “failed” as he met Lukashenko — the first time since Minsk helped end a revolt by Russian Wagner fighters.
The Transfiguration Cathedral — originally built in 1794 —was demolished under Stalin in 1936 and rebuilt in 1990s after the Soviet Union collapse. Ukraine said it had been “destroyed twice by Stalin and Putin”. It said the cathedral strike was a “war crime”. Russia blamed the cathedral damage on Ukraine saying the sites were being used to prepare “terrorist acts” against Russia.