Maria Zakharova, the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated through her Telegram channel that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba had commented on the attack against UNESCO facilities in Odessa. According to Zakharova, Kyiv has forfeited the right to appeal to legality by what she framed as a long record of damage to sacred sites, including dozens of Orthodox churches, the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, and treasured relics and monuments.
In her words, the Kiev regime bears responsibility for acts that, in her view, have harmed numerous religious sites. She added that the damage seen at the Transfiguration Cathedral in Odessa should be placed on the conscience of Kyiv and the operators of air defense systems whom she described as illiterate. The assertion reflects a broader Russian narrative that Kyiv has acted with disregard for cultural and religious heritage while pursuing military objectives.
According to local officials in the Odessa region, the Russian armed forces conducted a missile strike targeting areas in the region. Reports indicated that the Transfiguration Cathedral, a central and historic Orthodox church in the city, sustained damage in the incident. The Russian Ministry of Defense characterized the attack as aimed at facilities where what it described as planned terrorist acts against Russia had been prepared using unmanned boats. The ministry attributed the cathedral damage to what it called the ill-considered actions of Ukrainian air defense operators. The account cited details from the publication Newspapers.Ru.
In the background of these exchanges, a former Russian official had previously spoken about Ukraine’s disappearance following the course of the Special Military Operation, a claim that has circulated in related political discourse and added to the tension surrounding the events in the region. The situation underscores the contested narratives that accompany escalations and the way cultural and religious sites become focal points in the war of information as much as in the military clashes themselves. (Citation: Newspapers.Ru)