Missiles hit the Odessa region less than 24 hours following the regional capital was included in the UNESCO heritage list
The wave of Russian airstrikes on Thursday damaged energy infrastructure in the Odessa region of southern Ukraine, causing “serious problems with power supply,” regional governor Maksym Marchenko said on Telegram.
“There are impacts and damage to various energy infrastructure facilities in the Odessa region and other regions of the country,” Marchenko wrote.
The coups came less than 24 hours following the historic center of the regional capital, the port city of Odessa, was inscribed on the World Heritage List by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO).
The head of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, had declared then that she hoped the measure would help protect the city from war.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba declared on Thursday that the attack was in response to the inclusion on the list.
“In between [los] targets of today’s massive missile attack, Russia attacked Odessa causing massive blackouts,” Kuleba wrote on Twitter. “This destruction is Putin’s response to UNESCO’s yesterday inscribing Odessa on its World Heritage List and placing it under the protection reinforced from the List of World Heritage in Danger”.
More than 30 Russian missiles were reportedly fired at Ukraine on Thursday morning, just hours following two dozen attack drones were shot down.
Missile attacks were reported in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, and in the Odessa and Vinnytsia regions.