MONITORING (SW) – Russian forces launched missiles on the center of southern Ukraine’s port city of Odesa, a UNESCO world heritage site, seriously damaging historic buildings and injuring seven people on Friday night, local officials said.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, condemned the “deliberate strike” that again underscored the need to strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses.
He says Norwegian diplomats among those in epicenter of ‘deliberate strike’ on UNESCO-listed district.
Seven people were injured and emergency crews remained at the scene, said Odesa’s regional governor, Oleh Kiper. All the injured were in “moderate” condition and receiving medical assistance, he said.
Pictures posted online by Kiper and Odesa’s mayor, Hennady Trukhanov, showed the lobby and other parts of the Hotel Bristol, a luxury landmark built at the end of the 19th century, reduced to rubble.
The Odesa Philharmonic concert hall, opposite the hotel, was damaged with many of its windows smashed. Museums in the district also were damaged, reported The Guardian.
