Russian Missile Attack Wrecks Landmark Orthodox Cathedral And Historic Buildings In Odessa

ODESA, UKRAINE - JULY 23: Ukrainians clear away debris after a Russian missile struck the historic Holy Transfiguration (Spaso-Preobrazhensky) Cathedral in central Odesa, Ukraine, on July 23, 2023. The attack was part of an overnight barrage of 19 Russian rockets and missiles fired on the Black Sea port city and its region, the fifth such wave of Russian strikes in a week against port and grain infrastructure, launched in an apparent bid to prevent Ukraine from exporting grain after Russia failed in recent days to renew an extension of a grain export arrangement brokered by the United Nations and Turkey, which had held for the past year. The Transfiguration church was built in the late 18th century, destroyed by Josef Stalin in 1936, and rebuilt in the early 2000s and is part of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church with official links to the Moscow Patriarchate. (Photo by Scott Peterson/Getty Images)