Ukraine: German minister of state for culture visits Odesa

Claudia Roth is looking to highlight the destruction of cultural centers under Russian shelling. She is the first German government official to visit the strategic port city.

Claudia Roth in front of a statue of French statesman Armand Emmanuel du Plessis 

covered in protective sandbags

German Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth arrived in the southwestern Ukrainian port city of Odesa on Monday for a two-day visit.

Roth visited at the invitation of her Ukrainian counterpart, Oleksandr Tkachenko. She is the first German government official to visit the city.

"We want to show how culture is under attack," Roth said. Odesa has been the target of Russian shelling.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also sought to highlight attacks on cultural centers in the city over the weekend, saying that artillery fire destroyed a monastery in the city. He called the strike "proof" that Russia had no place within UNESCO, the UN's cultural agency.

Roth is scheduled to meet Odesa regional governor Maksym Marchenko and mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov.

She also plans to visit some of the city's cultural institutions, such as the Odesa Film Studio and the Philharmonic Theater.

Claudia Roth holds up a stamp showing a Ukrainian soldier gesturing to Russia's Black Sea fleet

Which other German officials have visited Ukraine?

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock became the first Cabinet member to visit Ukraine on May 10. She visited Ukrainian capital Kyiv and the nearby town of Bucha, which Ukraine alleges was the site of Russian war crimes against civilians.

Toward the end of May, Development Minister Svenja Schulze also visited Kyiv and urged Russia to allow the delivery of tens of thousands of tons of grain stuck in Ukrainian ports.

Friedrich Merz, head of the conservative opposition bloc, visited Kyiv early in June. Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats decried this as a PR stunt ahead of key state elections.

Unlike many European leaders, Scholz himself is yet to visit Ukraine.

dpa contributed to this report

Edited by: Rob Turner