Ukraine updates: Russian missile attack targets Odesa

Russia launched 19 missiles via land, air and sea on the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa, Kyiv said on Sunday. 

Ukraine's airforce said it had destroyed nine of the weapons, "including Oniks cruise missiles, sea-launched Kalibrs and Iskander ballistic missiles." 

Russia's attack left one person dead and injured nearly 20 people, including four children, said Oleg Kiper, the governor of the region. 

In his statement via Telegram, the governor said that Moscow's "nighttime terrorist attack" had damaged the historic Transfiguration Cathedral, which is Odesa's largest Orthodox church building and sits within the UNESCO-protected historic city center. 

Ukraine had previously accused the cathedral of maintaining links to the pro-invasion Russian Orthodox Church, which used to be its parent church but the cathedral in Odesa said that it broke its ties last year.

The missile attacks also destroyed six houses and apartment buildings.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed to retaliate against Moscow. 

"Missiles against peaceful cities, against residential buildings, a cathedral," Zelenskyy said. "There will definitely be a retaliation against Russian terrorists for Odesa."

Moscow has been pounding Odesa and other Ukrainian food export facilities almost every day since it pulled out from the Black Sea grain deal which allowed for the safe shipment of Ukrainian grains to other countries.

Here are some of the other developments from Russia's war in Ukraine on Sunday, July 23.

Ukraine's Kuleba reaffirms Polish friendship

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba says that Kyiv and Warsaw will "always stand united."

He made the comments after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko accused Poland of seeking to annex parts of western Ukraine.

"Putin's attempts to drive a wedge between Kyiv and Warsaw are as futile as his failing invasion of Ukraine," Kuleba said.

"Unlike Russia, Poland and Ukraine have learned from history and will always stand united against Russian imperialism and disrespect for international law," he said.

UNESCO condemns strike on Odesa cathedral

UNESCO has denounced Russia's strike on the Transfiguration Cathedral in the Ukrainian port city of Odesa.

"This outrageous destruction marks an escalation of violence against cultural heritage of Ukraine," UNESCO chief Audrey Azoulay said.

"I urge the Russian Federation to take meaningful action to comply with its obligations under international law," she said.

The organization said it would field a mission to Odesa to conduct assessment of damages.

It said that the reports of damage to the cathedral contradict claims by Russian authorities that precautions had been taken to protect World Heritage sites.

Russian forces targeting northeastern Ukraine — UK intelligence

The UK's Ministry of Defence (MOD) said that Russian forces were focusing efforts on northeastern parts of Ukraine, with artillery bombardments and raids.

The MOD said it was likely that Russia was making only "marginal gains" in attacks on the northern section of the eastern Ukrainian frontline regions of Luhansk and Kharkiv.

The Ministry said the renewed focus on the area "highlights its importance to the Kremlin when it is concurrently facing significant pressure in the southern Zaporizhzhya sector."

UK military intelligence believes the Russian military is possibly attempting to reach the Oskil River to create a buffer zone around the Luhansk region.

Blinken: Ukraine has won back 50% of territory seized by Russia

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Ukraine has taken back about 50% of the territory that Russia seized, although Kyiv's counteroffensive will likely last several months.

"It’s already taken back about 50% of what was initially seized," Blinken told CNN Sunday.

"These are still relatively early days of the counteroffensive. It is tough," he said, adding: "It will not play out over the next week or two. We’re still looking, I think, at several months."

Hopes that Ukraine could quickly clear Moscow's forces from its territory following the launch of a summer counteroffensive are fading as Kyiv's troops struggle to breach heavily entrenched Russian positions in the south and east.

Late last month Zelenskyy was quoted as saying that progress against Russian forces was "slower than desired" but that Kyiv would not be pressured into speeding it up.

Putin says Ukraine's counteroffensive has 'failed'

Russian President Vladimir Putin has told Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko that Ukraine's counteroffensive has failed, according to Russian news agencies.

"There is no counteroffensive," Lukashenko said during talks, according to the TASS news agency before being interrupted by Putin: "There is one, but it has failed."

The meeting is the first the pair have had since the Wagner Group's rebellion in June.

Lukashenko: Minsk is in control of Wagner fighters

Meanwhile, Lukashenko said he is "keeping" Russian Wagner mercenaries in central Belarus and that Minsk was "controlling" the situation with the notorious fighters on its territory.

"They are asking to go West, ask me for permission... to go on a trip to Warsaw, to Rzeszow," Lukashenko said to Putin, who smiled. "But of course, I am keeping them in central Belarus, as we agreed."

"We are controlling what is happening (with Wagner)," he said, adding: "They are in a bad mood." 

Wagner forces, who had played a key role in the battle for the Ukrainian town of Bakhmut, staged a mutiny last month, seizing a Russian military base in the south of the country.

Some of the fighters were even headed to Moscow in an act of defiance toward Putin before Lukashenko brokered a deal between the Kremlin and the group's leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Under the deal to end the mutiny, Wagner rebels and their leader would move to Belarusian territory where they would be safe from prosecution.

Some analysts think the move may have been a cover for the mercenary group to play a fresh role in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, perhaps from Belarusian territory.

Poland puts battle tank repair hub into action

Poland put into operation a maintenance hub for tanks damaged in Ukraine, said Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak.

The repair center had been called for by German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius to work on damaged German Leopard 2 battle tanks used in Ukraine.

Pistorius and Blaszczak agreed in April to set up the hub. The work which was supposed to start in May had been halted due to complex maintenance requirements.

Earlier in July during a visit to Poland, Pistorius had criticized the Polish side for being too slow in completing the center.

Poland's Blaszczak tweeted on Saturday that "The repair center in Gliwice is in operation! The first two Leopards have already arrived at the Bumar plant from Ukraine."

NATO-Ukraine Council to discuss grain deal

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is convening a meeting of the new NATO-Ukraine Council on Wednesday. 

The summit being held at Ukraine's request is aimed at consulting on "the latest developments and to discuss the transport of  Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea," said NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu. 

Before the announcement of the meeting, Stoltenberg spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about the grain deal which allowed Ukraine to ship 33 million tons of grain to other countries despite the conflict. 

Russia not only exited the deal but threatened to attack any ship in the Black Sea region.

"We strongly condemn Moscow's attempt to weaponize food," Stoltenberg tweeted after speaking to Zelenskyy. 

Referring to the NATO summit held in Lithuania in July, he said "Allies stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes & following NATO summit, Ukraine is closer to NATO than ever before."

mm, ns/jcg (Reuters, dpa, AFP)