Russian missiles poured down on southern Ukraine overnight, resulting in at least one death and 22 injuries.
Oleh Kiper, the regional governor, reported that 14 persons, including three children, were hospitalised as a result of the explosions in the Black Sea city of Odesa.
Since the Kremlin cancelled the UN-backed grain accord, Vladimir Putin‘s soldiers have continued to target the major grain export hub.
One missile hit the historic Transfiguration Cathedral, which was built in the 18th century, destroyed under Stalin and then rebuilt in the early 2000s.
Footage shared on Telegram shows the interior of the building partially destroyed, and a number of Orthodox shrines damaged.
The floors can be seen covered in rubble and chunks ripped off the ornate walls.
‘The destruction is enormous, half of the cathedral is now roofless,’ Archdeacon Andrii Palchuk said.
‘All the windows and stucco moulding were blown out. There was a fragmentary fire, the part where icons and candles are sold in the church caught fire. It was all on fire, burning.’
He said the damage was caused by a direct hit from a missile that penetrated the building down to the basement and caused significant damage.
Two people who were inside at the time of the strike were wounded.
It is Odesa’s largest church and it is located in the city centre, which is a UNESCO world heritage site.
‘The Kasperovska icon of the Mother of God, who is the patroness of Odesa, was retrieved from under the rubble,’ the administration said on its Telegram channel.
Six residential buildings, including apartment buildings, were also destroyed in the attack.
In central Odesa, some people became trapped in their apartments as a result of the damage.
Rubble can be seen strewn in the street and partly blocking the road, and damage to power lines.
Svitlana Molcharova was rescued by emergency workers, but after receiving first aid, she refused to leave her destroyed apartment.
‘I will stay here,’ the 85-year-old told rescuers.
President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack and vowed that the enemy will ‘feel the retaliation’.
Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s security council, said in a statement on Facebook: ‘The main purpose of Russia’s missile attacks on Odesa and the region is an attempt to cut off Ukraine’s access to the Black Sea, and to use intimidation to prevent and neutralise international efforts to restore the functioning of the grain corridor.’