This is barbarism' Shock at strike on Odesa cathedral

Bombardment of Black Sea port city is part of a campaign by Moscow to disrupt the shipping of grain exports

- Shaun Walker 

Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy." The priest dabbed tears from his eyes as his sonorous voice emerged from loudspeakers hastily assembled outside his devastated cathedral, the incantation competing with the crash of debris being loaded into trucks and the drilling of repair works on neighbouring buildings.

This was the second time that the vast, sand-yellow Transfiguration Cathedral, which sits in the heart of Odesa's Unesco-listed historic centre, had been attacked: in the 1930s, it was torn down during Joseph Stalin's atheism drive. Last Sunday morning, the rebuilt version was hit during a Russian airstrike. A missile blew a large hole in the roof, collapsed the altar and left several walls charred by fire.

It was one of several strikes on the southern port city in the early hours. Schools, residential buildings and a revered 19th-century mansion were also damaged. One person was killed and 14 were hospitalised.

Russia has been hitting Odesa relentlessly since Moscow pulled out of a deal allowing Ukrainian grain to be exported from the city's Black Sea ports. The Russian defence ministry has also threatened to treat commercial ships attempting to dock in Odesa as military targets in order to ensure that no grain can leave the city.