The attack took the lives of at least two people, according to preliminary reports, and damaged a number of significant cultural sites in the Historical Center of Odesa, including the Transfiguration Cathedral, the first and foremost Orthodox church in Odesa founded in 1794. This act of hostility comes only days after other attacks that impacted many cultural heritage sites in areas protected under the World Heritage Convention in Lviv and Odesa.
Intentional destruction of cultural sites may amount to a war crime, as acknowledged also by the United Nations Security Council – of which the Russian Federation is a permanent member – in Resolution 2347 (2017).
In the coming days, UNESCO will field a mission to Odesa to conduct a preliminary assessment of damages.
