Russia Continues to Destroy UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Odesa, Ukraine, Despite Global Outrage

Cultural landmarks in the historic center of Odesa, Ukraine, were destroyed today in a Russian missile attack. The city's largest Orthodox church, the Transfiguration Cathedral, along with 25 architectural monuments and residential buildings, suffered damage.

This was reported by the Odesa Regional State Administration.

The Russian army attacked the city with 12 missiles of various types. At least one person was killed, and 22 others were injured, including four children aged 11 to 12 and two 17-year-old teenagers, one of whom is in critical condition in intensive care.

The nighttime shelling of Odesa has shaken the international community. US Ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, has already expressed her reaction to the new attack by the terrorist country.

"Russia continues its relentless attacks on the people and infrastructure of Odesa, a World Heritage Site and a vital port for global food security. Russia's unjustified war against Ukraine and its people has had terrible consequences here. The ruined cathedral, destroyed homes, and burning granaries should serve as a reminder that this matters to everyone," the ambassador wrote on Twitter.

The US diplomat was joined by her colleague, the British Ambassador to Ukraine, Melinda Simmons, who stressed that there were no military targets in the areas where the Russian missiles hit.

"The center of Odesa was bombed by Russia. There were no military objectives. Just a beautiful Ukrainian city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, being shelled because it is home to ports that export vital food around the world," Simmons said.

The European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, called Russia's strike a war crime:

"Russia's ongoing missile terror against UNESCO-protected Odesa is another war crime by the Kremlin, destroying the main Orthodox cathedral, a World Heritage site," Borrell wrote on Twitter.

President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, expressed confidence that Russia must be punished for its crimes.

"Missiles against peaceful cities, against residential buildings, a cathedral. There can be no excuse for Russian evil. As always, this evil will lose. And there will definitely be a response to Russian terrorists for Odesa. They will feel this response," the president said on his telegram channel.

In turn, the Russian side said that today's strikes were aimed at facilities "where terrorist acts against Russia were being prepared using unmanned boats," adding that "foreign mercenaries" were present at the facilities.

As a reminder, on July 17, Russia announced its withdrawal from the so-called "grain deal" with the UN and Turkey, which allowed partial exports of Ukrainian grain through the territorial waters of Ukraine illegally blocked by the Russian navy. The Russian Foreign Ministry explicitly announced that it would fire on merchant ships carrying Ukrainian grain, treating them as military targets.

Then, the Russian army launched an intensive targeted attack on Ukrainian port cities, including Odesa and Mykolaiv, which caused global outrage and forced Western leaders to respond appropriately.

For example, a strike on the Odesa region on July 19 destroyed 60,000 tonnes of grain that was supposed to be shipped two months later.

After another strike on Ukrainian Odesa on July 21, UNESCO condemned the Russian attack "in the buffer zone of the World Heritage Site Historic Centre of Odesa, which affected buildings of cultural significance within the site."

"This attack, which comes just two weeks after a shelling that destroyed a historic building in Lviv, is the second to date in a site protected by the World Heritage Convention and violates the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. The attack also coincided with the destruction of the Culture Center of Folk Art and Art Education in Mykolaiv," the organization said in a statement.

According to preliminary data from UNESCO, the actions of Russian troops on the territory of Ukraine have already caused $2.6 billion in damage to cultural heritage.