Russian Missile Attack Hits Odesa Historical Center, Wounding Seven

A Russian missile attack struck the center of the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa on Friday evening, Jan. 31, wounding at least seven people and damaging historic buildings, officials said.

The Black Sea city known for its picturesque streets of 19th-century buildings is regularly targeted by Russian strikes, often on its port area.

“Currently, seven people are known to have been injured in the attack by Russian terrorists on the historical center of Odesa,” the regional governor Oleh Kiper wrote on social media.

All were in “moderate” condition, he said, and receiving medical assistance.

Kiper said in earlier posts that two women and a child were among the wounded.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned what he called an “absolutely deliberate attack by Russian terrorists”, saying it was fortunate that it caused no deaths.

Kiper posted photos showing rescuers wheeling a woman on a stretcher outside the city’s historic Hotel Bristol. The photos also show damage to the 19th-century hotel’s ornate facade and interior, including a grand staircase.

Ukraine’s emergency service posted video showing debris littering the street outside the Bristol and a woman with dust on her clothes being helped by rescuers.

It said firefighters had rescued a woman trapped in her room on the second floor and extinguished a fire on the roof.

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“Among the people who were at the epicentre of the attack were Norwegian diplomatic representatives,” Zelensky said.

“There is a lot of damage and destruction in the UNESCO-protected area,” Odesa’s mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov said.

Odesa’s historic centre is on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

Its Transfiguration Cathedral -- destroyed by the Soviets and rebuilt in the 2000s -- was badly damaged by a Russian strike in July 2023.

“As a result of the explosions, a number of historical monuments, including the Literary, Historical and Local Lore, Archaeological Museums, Museum of Western and Eastern Art, and the Philharmonic, have had their windows smashed and their facades damaged,” Kiper said.

Ukrainian media posted photos showing what appeared to be a large crater near the hotel, and fallen masonry, blown-out windows and debris littering the floor inside.