The Kremlin said that Ukraine itself bombed the largest temple in Odessa

The Kremlin has denied accusations against the Russian military that the Transfiguration Cathedral was destroyed by a rocket attack. Moscow does not hit churches, said Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Vladimir Putin, quoted by RIA Novosti.

“In fact, we are talking about anti-missiles that were launched and destroyed this temple on their own,” he said.

The Russian Ministry of Defense on the eve also stated that a Ukrainian missile hit the Odessa temple, while calling the actions of the air defense operators “illiterate.” Moscow has accused the Ukrainian Armed Forces of deliberately deploying air defense systems in residential areas.

“The planning of strikes with the use of precision weapons against the military and terrorist infrastructure of the Kiev regime is carried out on the basis of carefully verified and confirmed information through several channels, deliberately excluding the destruction of civilian objects housing civilians, as well as objects of cultural and historical heritage,” they stressed.