Russia Ukraine war latest: Unesco sounds alarm as historical cathedral severely harmed in fatal Odesa airstrikes

Prominent Russian nationalist Igor Girkin, who openly implicated president Vladimir Putin and the army leading brass of not pursuing the war in Ukraine roughly or successfully enough, was remanded in custody on Friday on charges of prompting extremism.

His arrest previously recommends authorities have actually wearied of his criticism of what they call Russia’s “special military operation”.

The MOD said the relocation is most likely to ‘spark fury’.

Russia has actually rejected it performed an attack on the Transfiguration Cathedral in Odesa, and has actually blamed Ukraine for the damage.

The Russian Defence Ministry said Ukraine’s declaration that the cathedral was harmed by a high-precision weapon “does not correspond to reality”.

Russia said it targeted centers that “were preparing terrorist acts against the Russian Federation” – and were “located at a safe distance from the Transfiguration Cathedral”.

“The information disseminated by the Kyiv regime about the defeat as a result of the use of high-precision weapons of the Transfiguration Cathedral in the city of Odesa is not true,” a declaration checked out.

A later on declaration said: “The planning of strikes with precision weapons against military and terrorist infrastructure facilities of the Kyiv regime is carried out on the basis of information carefully checked and confirmed through several channels, knowingly excluding the civilian facilities, as well as cultural and historical heritage sites.

“According to footage of the Transfiguration Cathedral in Odesa published by local residents, the most probable cause of its destruction was the fall of a Ukrainian anti-aircraft guided missile, as a result of the incompetent actions of the operators of air defence systems, which the AFU (Armed Forces of Ukraine) deliberately places in residential areas, including Odesa.”

At least someone was killed and 22 others were injured, consisting of 4 kids, in the attack in the early hours on Sunday.

A member of the Wagner mercenary group said he “didn’t have a clue” what was going on throughout the tried mutiny in Rostov-on-Don versus president Putin.

Gleb, not his genuine name, was a junior leader throughout the mutiny. He said he found out about the real nature of occasions on Telegram.

“We learned what was happening from Telegram, just like you did,” he informed the BBC.

The Wagner fighter said he was with his system in the Russian-inhabited Luhansk area when he got a call from a leader acting upon orders from the mercenary group’s now-exiled employer Yevgeny Prigozhin to sign up with a column of Wagner fighters leaving Ukraine.

He declared he was informed it was a “full deployment.”

He said no one was informed where the column was heading – and he was amazed when he understood they were moving far from the frontline.

Gleb said Wagner soldiers did not come across any resistance as they crossed the Russian border into the Rostov area

“I didn’t see any border guards,” he said.

Russian president Vladimir Putin said Ukraine’s counteroffensive “has failed” as he hosted Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, his close ally, for talks in St Petersburg on Sunday.

“There is no counteroffensive,” Russian news firms estimated Lukashenko as stating.

Putin responded: “It exists, but it has failed.”

Ukraine started its long-anticipated counter-offensive last month however has actually up until now made just little gains versus well established Russian forces who manage more than a sixth of its area after almost 17 months of war.

U.S. basic Mark Milley, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Tuesday the Ukrainian drive was “far from a failure” however would be long, difficult and bloody.

A Telegram channel connected to Lukashenko estimated him as stating in a jocular tone that fighters of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group who are now training Belarus’s army were eager to press throughout the border into NATO member Poland.

“The Wagner guys have started to stress us – they want to go west. ‘Let’s go on a trip to Warsaw and Rzeszow’,” he was estimated as stating. There was no sign that Lukashenko was seriously amusing that concept.

Poland is moving additional soldiers towards the border with Belarus in action to the arrival of Wagner forces who moved there after a temporary mutiny in Russia last month.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has actually alerted Russia that Ukraine will strike back after a rocket strike by Russia killed one and hurt a minimum of 19 others in Odesa.

In a tweet, president Zelensky said: “Missiles against peaceful cities, against residential buildings, a cathedral… There can be no excuse for Russian evil. As always, this evil will lose. And there will definitely be a retaliation to Russian terrorists for Odesa. They will feel this retaliation.

“All those who suffered from this latest terrorist attack are being provided with assistance.

“I am grateful to everyone who is helping people and to everyone who is with Odesa in their thoughts and emotions. We will get through this. We will restore peace. And for this, we must defeat the Russian evil.”

Russia struck the Ukrainian Black Sea city of Odesa once again, regional authorities said, maintaining a barrage of attacks that has actually harmed crucial port facilities in southern Ukraine in the previous week.

At least someone was killed and 22 others were injured in the attack in the early hours on Sunday.

Six domestic structures, consisting of apartment, were destroyed by the strikes, local guv Oleh Kiper said, along with the historical Transfiguration Cathedral, a landmark Orthodox cathedral in the city.

Svitlana Molcharova, 85, was rescued by emergency situation service employees.

But after she received very first medical help, she declined to leave her destroyed home.

“I will stay here,” she said to the emergency situation service employee who recommended her to leave.

“I woke up when the ceiling started to fall on me. I rushed into the corridor,” said Ivan Kovalenko, 19, another local of the building.

He pertained to Odesa having actually run away the city of Mykolaiv looking for a much safer location to live after his house was destroyed.

“That’s how I lost my home in Mykolaiv, and here, I lost my rented apartment.”

In his home, the ceiling partly collapsed, the terrace came off the side of the building, and all the windows were burnt out.

The Transfiguration Cathedral, among the most essential and biggest Orthodox Cathedrals in Odesa, was badly harmed.

“The destruction is enormous, half of the cathedral is now roofless,” said Archdeacon Andrii Palchuk, as cathedral employees brought files and important products out of the badly building, the flooring of which was flooded with water utilized by firemens to snuff out the fire.

Mr Palchuk said the damage was triggered by a direct hit from a Russian rocket that permeated the building down to the basement and triggered considerable damage. Two individuals who were within at the time of the strike were injured.

“But with God’s help, we will restore it,” he said, rupturing into tears.

After the fires were put out, volunteers put on construction hats, shovels and brooms at the cathedral to begin getting rid of debris, combing through to restore any church artifacts — under the careful look of the saints whose paintings stayed undamaged. Local authorities said that the icon of the patroness of the city had actually been recovered from under the debris.

Specialised soldiers called sappers have actually been getting rid of mines by hand and clearing the courses for Ukraine’s soldiers.

These groups of manual deminers, who generally utilize portable metal detectors to find and eliminate mines, are apparently at fantastic risk amidst Ukraine’s counteroffensive to press back inhabiting Russian forces.

The Washington Post reported that over months of stalemate along the cutting edge, Russia has actually developed greatly mined defences.

“They prepared very well…Every square inch is mined. They plant mines on approaches to their positions and blow them when they retreat,” a frontline Ukrainian soldier informed Kyiv Post.

“Nobody expected the whole terrain to be mined, so we’ve been banging our heads against the minefields, moving at a snail’s pace. We really lose very many sappers. They always go ahead of the troops,” he included.

A Russian air attack on Ukraine’s Odesa city early on Sunday killed one, hurt 22 and severely harmed a Russian-connected Orthodox cathedral, with authorities stating they recovered the icon of the patroness of the port city from under the debris. “Odesa: another night attack of the monsters,” Oleh Kiper, guv of southern Ukraine’s Odesa area, said on the Telegram messaging app.

One individual was killed and 22 hurt, consisting of 4 kids, in the rocket attacks that likewise destroyed 6 homes and apartment. Fourteen individuals were hospitalised, he said.

Russia has actually been pounding Odesa and other Ukrainian food export centers almost daily over the previous week after it withdrew from a U.N.-brokered sea passage arrangement that permitted the safe delivery of Ukrainian grain.

Odesa’s military administration said that the Spaso-Preobrazhenskyi Cathedral of the Moscow-connected Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), was badly harmed. “The Kasperovska icon of the Mother of God, who is the patroness of Odesa, was retrieved from under the rubble,” the administration said on its Telegram channel.

Since the start of Russia’s intrusion of Ukraine, a number of reports have actually mentioned that Moscow is concealing the real death toll amongst Russian forces.

Earlier reports have actually recommended that Russian soldiers were leaving the bodies of some their dead associates.

In one case, reported by The Times, a Ukrainian soldier said Russians were required to eliminate along with the remains of their dead associate for weeks.