- Stewart leads Liberty past Lynx to level WNBA Finals
- England return to winning ways in Nations League, Austria thrash Norway
- UN chief says attacks on UNIFIL 'may constitute a war crime'
- Ravens outlast Commanders while Bucs batter Saints in NFL
- Dozens hurt in Israel as Hezbollah claims drone strike
- England deserve 'world class' coach: Carsley
- Burkina Faso win to become first qualifiers for 2025 AFCON
- AC Milan's Pulisic among five out for USA match in Mexico
- France's Amandine Henry retires from international football
- Centre-left set to win pro-Ukraine Lithuania's vote
- India's World Cup hopes in Pakistan hands after Australia defeat
- Zelensky says NKorea sending troops to Russian army
- England beat Finland to get back on track
- King and Lewis propel West Indies to T20 triumph over Sri Lanka
- Pre-Halloween 'Terrifier' lands atop North America box office
- 'I still plan to compete and play next season,' says Djokovic
- Harris, Trump seek advantage in knife-edge election battle
- Chepngetich shatters women's marathon world record in Chicago
- Kamindu and Asalanka power Sri Lanka to 179 against West Indies
- Chepngetich shatters women's marathon world record as Korir wins in Chicago
- Spain send injured Yamal home 'to prioritise player's health'
- In milestone, SpaceX 'catches' megarocket booster after test flight
- Iraq walks fine line with pro-Iran factions to avoid war
- Race four abandoned after New Zealand breeze into 3-0 lead in America's Cup
- West Indies win toss, put Sri Lanka in to bat in first T20
- Sudan rescuers say air strike killed 23 in Khartoum market
- Netanyahu tells UN to move Lebanon peacekeepers out of 'harm's way'
- Bangladeshi Hindus defy attack worries to celebrate festival
- Kiwis three up in America's Cup as Ineos pay for time penalty
- In a first, SpaceX 'catches' megarocket booster after test flight
- Dominant England crush Scotland at Women's T20 World Cup
- Dropped: The rise and fall of Pakistan batting maestro Babar Azam
- Israel fights Hezbollah on the ground, pounds Lebanon from the air
- Sabalenka outlasts local hero Zheng to win third Wuhan Open title
- Bangladeshi Hindus shrug off attack worries to celebrate festival
- Former Pakistan captain Azam dropped for second England Test
- 'Opportunist' Dupont dazzles on Toulouse return
- Australia replace injured Vlaeminck with Graham at Women's T20 World Cup
- Sinner wins Shanghai Masters to deny Djokovic 100th career title
- Ubisoft fears assassin's hit over falling sales
- Israel hits Lebanon from the air and fights Hezbollah on the ground
- China's Yin has 'goosebumps' as she romps to LPGA win in Shanghai
- Pakistan to re-use Multan pitch for second England Test
- Blair and King Charles hail Salmond's 'devotion' to Scotland
- Vietnam, China hold talks on calming South China Sea tensions
- SpaceX will try to 'catch' giant Starship rocket shortly before landing
- England captain Stokes in line for second Pakistan Test return
- Japan's former empress Michiko discharged after surgery: reports
- Japan's former empress Michiko discharged after surgey: reports
- Israel widens Lebanon strikes as troops fight Hezbollah along border
'Such pain': Odesa cathedral, demolished by Soviets, hit by Russia
A group of Ukrainian officials anxiously eyed deep cracks in the back wall of the Transfiguration Cathedral in Odesa, days after Russian missiles pummelled the UNESCO-protected port city.
"The threat is that part of the building where that crazy Russian missile came down -- it's moving," Odesa mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov told AFP outside the Orthodox cathedral, following the Sunday strike.
The mayor later told the 84-year-old Orthodox cleric responsible for the diocese, Metropolitan Agafangel, that the wall needed to be taken down.
"It is dragging the whole building down," he said.
Odesa, a Black Sea port with historic central streets on UNESCO's World Heritage List, had suffered comparatively little war damage until recent days.
But after Russia scrapped a grain export deal with Ukraine, it pounded port areas and damaged some of Odesa's oldest and most beautiful buildings.
"We haven't had such attacks on Odesa. This is the first time," said the mayor.
The Transfiguration Cathedral is not old, and was completed in the early 2000s.
But parishioners and clerics said it was precious because it was built from public donations, recreating a cathedral demolished by Soviet authorities.
The city chief asked the Metropolitan for permission for partial demolition and asked him to warn visitors against walking near the cathedral.
"They shouldn't put themselves in danger by being here."
- 'It's awful, awful' -
"It's awful, awful," the Metropolitan replied softly.
"A tragedy. What a holy place. The Russian defence ministry said there were foreign depots. What depots are there here?"
Earlier the head of the Odesa diocese toured the cathedral with clerics in plastic construction helmets.
He also joined an outdoor prayer service. Some wept as they listened to clerics in golden and black robes chanting and singing.
Large gold icons and cherubs' faces were propped up against the cathedral's walls and workers were blocking up windows with chipboard.
Inside, volunteers had swept the floor clean and stacked up ripped and shrapnel-scored icons.
Ornate wall paintings, only completed this Easter, had been ripped away, exposing the concrete and metal structure.
"These walls aren't just walls. They were put up with our hands, with our love. Now it's such a blow, such pain, such grief," said Galyna, 58, who was selling candles to raise money for restoration.
"This church is the pride of Odesa," said 85-year-old worshipper, also named Galyna, examining an icon of the Holy Virgin, rescued almost intact.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church was previously under the Moscow Patriarchate.
While it has formally broken ties, many in Ukraine see it as still loyal to Russia.
- Feel 'hatred' -
But the spokesman for the Odesa diocese, Archpriest Maximian Pogorelovskiy, 31, said he and other clerics felt "hatred, non-acceptance and lack of understanding" over what Russia did.
"They aimed at the cathedral, probably to scare us, to confuse us," he said.
The Kremlin denied targeting the cathedral, blaming Ukrainian air defences.
The archpriest linked the destruction of the original cathedral by the Soviets to the Russian missile attack.
"This cathedral was rebuilt, everyone was glad, and now the inheritors of that Bolshevism -- Russian rockets -- have destroyed this cathedral."
The strikes left a trail of destruction, blowing out windows in the historic House of Scientists, a professional centre and events venue, and hitting low-rise stone apartment buildings near the port.
Asya Kashpyruk, a 22-year-old student and dancer, boxed up dresses and books in her bedroom in her family's apartment on the top floor of a 19th-century stone building, after it was left with walls askew and gaping holes in the ceiling.
"This is our flat -- what's left of it," she said bitterly.
In the courtyard outside, rose bushes and grape vines were still coated with dust from the pulverised building.
"It was very friendly, we had good relationships, we had a lot of stray cats which we were feeding," Kashpyruk said of the space.
Now put up in a hotel, the family said they feared even a heavy downpour could destroy their flat, since the roof is largely ripped off.
Asya's mother, Katarina, said officials told her the building was under UNESCO protection, and therefore they "can't do anything".
"Will they wait for it to fall down?" she asked.
O.Karlsson--AMWN