Russian strikes on Odessa, a large city in southern Ukraine, left at least eight injured and notably damaged an art museum overnight from Sunday to Monday, according to Ukrainian officials.
Images released by city authorities and the museum show debris and shards of glass on the floor of the Odessa State Museum of Fine Arts, some of which have shattered windows. Walls are cracked and some paintings appear to have been thrown to the ground by the force of the explosion.
Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Eminé Djeppar said she was “deeply outraged” by the strike.
“The deliberate destruction of cultural sites is a crime against Ukrainian heritage,” she denounced, demanding “a strong international response and immediate action from UNESCO.”
Deliberate destruction of cultural sites is a crime against Ukrainian heritage
Shortly after, UNESCO said it “strongly condemned” the attack, recalling that “cultural sites must be protected”.
The interim director of the museum, Kateryna Koulaï, for her part indicated that an assessment of “the damage [potentiels] invisible to the naked eye” was in progress.
Most of the works on display had been “evacuated,” said Oleg Kiper, an official with the regional authorities. “The drawings and paintings in the current exhibitions were not damaged,” he said on Telegram.
The National Museum of Fine Arts in Odessa, an elegant pink building, was opened at the end of the 19the century, according to its website.
19 soldiers killed
kyiv accused Moscow of firing four missiles and launching attack drones from Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories. In the Odessa region, eight people were injured, announced Ukrainian Interior Minister Igor Klimenko.
The strikes also hit around twenty buildings and infrastructure, the nature of which was not specified. Ukraine also fears seeing Moscow launch systematic attacks on its energy infrastructure, like last winter, imposing heating and power cuts on millions of people.
The head of the administration of the Ukrainian presidency, Andriï Iermak, recalled on Monday that the winter would be “very difficult”. “Russia is preparing, so we must prepare too,” he said.
kyiv has called on its Western allies to strengthen its air defenses to ward off a feared intensification of Russian strikes during the winter.
In the Kherson region, also located in the South, buildings were hit by a missile, according to Oleksandr Prokudin, the governor.
One of these buildings “was hit for the third time by the enemy,” he said, adding that the strike had injured a resident.
The Ukrainian Air Force, for its part, affirmed that “fifteen [drones] Shahed and a Kh-59 guided aerial missile [avaient] been slaughtered.”
Finally, Ukraine confirmed that a Russian missile caused the death of 19 of its soldiers on Friday.
According to local media, the soldiers were gathered for a decoration ceremony near the front line in the Zaporizhia region.
The Ukrainian army confirmed that soldiers had died, without specifying their number so far.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Sunday that an investigation would be carried out into the circumstances of this “tragedy which could have been avoided”, according to him.
Legal proceedings have been initiated for “negligent attitude of a serving military official”, the Ukrainian security services announced on Monday.
Furthermore, in the south of Russia, two Ukrainian drones were shot down in the Voronezh region without causing any casualties or damage, according to the regional governor, Alexander Gusev.