Ukraine War: Deadly Russian strike kills one, wounds 19 in Odesa; Zelensky vows to retaliate

Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed to hit back at the “Russian terrorists” who launched a barrage of missiles on Odesa, killing two people and injuring 22 others.

Russia’s latest missile attack on Odesa left two dead Sunday, wounded many and badly damaged a UNESCO-listed Orthodox cathedral, drawing a vow of retaliation from Ukraine’s leader.

The strike on the port city, which Russia has pounded since quitting the Black Sea grain deal, came just hours before Russian President Vladimir Putin met his Belarus counterpart for talks.

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky promised to strike back at Russia for the deadly attack, which involved 19 missiles and also wounded 22 people, including a number of children.

“Missiles against peaceful cities, against residential buildings, a cathedral,” Zelensky said. “There will definitely be a retaliation against Russian terrorists for Odesa.”

Kyiv also said the Orthodox Savior and Transfiguration Cathedral under UNESCO protection in the historic city centre was destroyed, calling it a “war crime that will never be forgotten and forgiven.”

Ukrainian rescuers work at the site of a missile strike in Odesa. Picture: Oleksandr Gimanov/AFP

Andriy Palchuk, archdeacon of the cathedral, said people in the cathedral at the time of the attack survived.

Moscow said it had hit all its intended targets in the Odesa strike, claiming the sites were being used to prepare “terrorist acts” against Russia.

Odesa has been bombed several times since the start of the invasion, and in January the United Nations cultural agency UNESCO designated the historic centre of the city as a World Heritage in Danger site.

Attacks have increased since Russia said it was pulling out of a key deal which allowed the safe export of Ukrainian grain — effectively ending the agreement signed in July last year between Moscow, Kyiv, Istanbul and the UN.

Russian authorities then announced that they would consider any ships heading for Ukrainian grain ports on the Black Sea as military targets.

Kyiv has accused Russia of targeting grain supplies and infrastructure vital to any resumption of Ukrainian grain exports.

Ambulance medics stand next to a building damaged as a result of a missile strike in Odesa. Picture: Oleksandr Gimanov/AFP

It said these included Oniks cruise missiles, sea-launched Kalibrs and Iskander ballistic missiles.

The latest attack comes as Polish troops have been sent to its border with Belarus amid growing concerns about the threat posed from Wagner Group forces closing in on the Nato country’s eastern flank.

Poland’s Security Committee opted to move its troops to its eastern border following Belarus’ decision to hold joint drills between its special forces and Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner mercenary army about 4.8km from the Nato perimeter.

Committee secretary Zbigniew Hoffmann said the military exercises were “undoubtedly a provocation”.

Wagner Group forces and Belarusian special forces took part in join military training exercises this week. Picture: AFP

Belarus revealed on July 20 that Wagner forces have begun training the ex-Soviet country’s special forces, nearly a month after an aborted rebellion in Russia. Picture: AFP

Polish residents close to the area reported hearing shooting and helicopters, according to The Sun.

But Poland’s move has riled up Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

“The Western territories of today’s Poland are a gift of (Joseph) Stalin to the Poles,” Mr Putin said on Russian state TV.

“Our friends in Warsaw forgot about it, we’ll remind them.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a Security Council meeting via a video link in Moscow on July 21, 2023. Picture: AFP

Later, during a meeting with the security council, he issued another chilling war threat, warning that Moscow would respond “with all the means at our disposal”.

“Unleashing aggression against Belarus will mean aggression against the Russian Federation,” he said.

He also accused the Polish-Lithuanian unit of having territorial ambitions in the former Soviet Union and intervening in Ukraine “in order to then tear off a bigger piece for themselves”.

“It is well known that they also dream of the Belarusian lands,” he added, without providing any evidence.

Russian mercenary army Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin. Picture: AFP

His claims and threats came only weeks after Russia started moving nuclear warheads into Belarus.

And after Mr Progozhin, whose whereabouts following his failed Russian coup were unknown for weeks, appeared in Belarus on Wednesday to greet his troops.

UKRAINE FIRES AMBASSADOR TO UK AS ALLIANCE STRAINS

Volodymyr Zelensky fired his ambassador to the United Kingdom after he criticised the Ukrainian president amid a lack of “gratitude” for support in the war with Russia.

As diplomatic tensions between Ukraine and its allies continues to strain, ambassador Vadym Prystaiko spoke out against his president’s sarcastic response to a row over British military aid.

The UK’s defence minister Ben Wallace slammed Ukraine over its apparent lack of gratitude for the stream of weapons and aid flowing from NATO and its Western allies since the start of the war.

Ukraine's former ambassador to the UK Vadym Prystaiko criticised Volodymyr Zelensky for a sarcastic response to Britain’s request for gratitude for its support. Picture: AFP

During the NATO summit in Vilnius, Zelenskyy said it was “absurd” not to include a timeline for Ukraine membership on the agenda.

Wallace later hit back and said Britain was not an Amazon delivery service for weapons to Ukraine, and suggested Kyiv should humble itself.

“There is a slight word of caution here, which is that whether we like it or not people want to see gratitude,” Wallace told reporters, adding that American politicians were “grumbling” about being treated like an online arms delivery supplier.

“I said to the Ukrainians last year, when I drove 11 hours to [Kyiv to] be given a list – I said, I am not Amazon.”

Zelensky quipped he could “wake up in the morning” and express gratitude daily to the minister daily. Picture: AFP

Zelenskyy responded saying he did not know how else to make clear Ukraine’s gratitude, adding: “We could wake up in the morning and express our words of gratitude to the minister personally.”

Ukraine’s now former ambassador to the UK agreed in an interview that his boss responded with “a little bit of sarcasm”.

“I don’t believe that this sarcasm is healthy. We don’t have to show the Russians that we have something between us, they have to know that we are working together,” Prystaiko said, stressing the need to smooth over relations with the UK.

“If anything happens, Ben can call me and tell me everything he wants,” the diplomat said.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace slammed Kyiv’s lack of gratitude, saying Britain was not an Amazon delivery service for weapons. Picture: Getty Images

Prystaiko is a career diplomat who has served as ambassador to the United Kingdom since July 2020. He was previously Ukraine’s foreign minister from 2019 to 2020.

Zelensky signed a decree dismissing Prystaiko, published on the presidential website. It did not provide a reason.

RUSSIA HITS CHINESE EMBASSY IN BOMBING BLUNDER

The Chinese consulate in Odessa was damaged during the third “hellish” night of attacks on the port city in retaliation for the bombing of the bridge to Crimea.

Ukraine’s regional governor Oleh Kiper said Moscow’s missile and drone attacks blasted windows out of Beijing’s embassy, while President Zelenskyy said 60,000 tons of agricultural products destroyed by Russian air strikes belonged to China.

“The aggressor is deliberately hitting the port infrastructure – administrative and residential buildings nearby were damaged, also the consulate of the People’s Republic of China. It shows the enemy does not pay attention to anything,” Kiper said on the Telegram messaging app.

Rescuers extinguishing a fire in an administrative building in Odessa during the third “hellish” night of attacks. Picture: AFP

The bombardment on the port city comes in retaliation for Ukraine’s attack on the Crimean bridge to Russia. Picture: AFP

While the damage in photos, showing broken buildings, appeared to be minor, it is an embarrassing blunder for Moscow for its diplomatic relations with its allies in Beijing.

Russian forces also targeted Mykolaiv, another Black Sea port through which Ukrainian grain is exported, after Moscow’s exit from a key deal giving ships safe passage.

At least two people died and more than 20 people were wounded after strikes on the port cities, officials said, posting images of buildings in flames with facades partially destroyed.

Russia pounded Odessa and Mykolaiv with 19 cruise missiles and 19 drones, the Ukrainian air force said, after Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to exact revenge after an attack on a bridge linking annexed Crimea to Russia.

“A hellish night for our people!” said Sergiy Kruk, head of the Ukrainian State Emergency Service.

In Odessa, a man was found dead “under the rubble”, regional governor Oleg Kiper said. The body of another man was found in Mykolaiv, officials said.

Several residential buildings as well as stores, cafes and banks in the city were damaged, while some continued to burn in the hours after the strikes.

At least two people died and more than 20 people were wounded. Picture: AFP

The mother of an employee who was killed after a missile strike on an administrative building in the centre of Odessa. Picture: AFP

Rescue teams were searching through the debris under pouring rain to find survivors after the Russians struck the city centre.

Oleksiy Luganchenko, 72, said his sister had been killed. The body of her elderly husband had already been pulled out.

“Who needs this war?” he said. “I’d told them they should leave and now they have died.”

Iryna Personova, 65, said her apartment had been destroyed. “I’ve lived here for 40 years, there’s not a single military target nearby,” she told AFP.

“Putin is just a demon, he’s evil.” A Red Cross employee, Arkady Dabatyan, said many civilians including children had been injured. “Unfortunately, we even provided aid to a 12-month baby,” he added.

A man examines his car outside a residential building damaged in the attack, which also blew out window at the city’s Chinese embassy, according to local authorities. Picture: AFP

While shattered windows, seen here at a residential building, are minor compared to a direct hit, the damage to the embassy of Russia’s ally is an embarrassing diplomatic blunder. Picture: AFP

“Russian terrorists are continuing their attempts to destroy the life of our country,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“Together we will get through this terrible time.” Governor Kiper said Ukraine’s air force shot down 12 Iranian drones and two Kalibr missiles in Odessa.

“Unfortunately, it was not possible to destroy all the missiles,” he said, adding that supersonic missiles of the X-22 and “Onyx” types “are extremely difficult to destroy”.

Apart from port infrastructure, the Russian forces also struck civilian targets including residential and administrative buildings, Kiper said.

The building of China’s consulate general in Odessa was also damaged, he said. “The enemy is not paying attention to anything,” he added.

A previous round of overnight strikes on Odessa destroyed 60,000 tonnes of grain meant for export, Kyiv said on Wednesday, with Zelensky accusing Moscow of “deliberately” targeting the supplies.

Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last year saw Black Sea ports blocked by warships until the United Nations and Turkey brokered a grain agreement in July 2022.

With AFP

Originally published as Ukraine War: Deadly Russian strike kills one, wounds 19 in Odesa; Zelensky vows to retaliate