Volunteers fill sandbags to build barricades during Ukraine-Russia conflict, in the city of Odesa
(Picture: REUTERS)The access roads to the grandiose Opera House and Potemkin Stairs are blocked by walls of sandbags and barbed wire. The main pedestrian street and hub of the city’s nightlife, Deribasovskaya, is now paved with chevaux-de-frise and anti-tank barriers.
They are scenes reminiscent of the Second World War, when Odesa defended itself against the Germans and Romanians with such courage that it was awarded the title Hero City by the Soviets. Older people who experienced the occupation by the Axis troops cannot understand this reversal: the Russians are now the enemy, while the Germans, Romanians and Italians are the allies.
The entire population has rallied to defend the city; recruitment offices to enlist in the territorial defence were so crowded that many volunteers had to be sent home. Groups of housewives gathered to sew camouflage nets, while street workshops sprang up to make Molotov cocktails.
These operations have a limited military impact but they raise the morale of the city’s defenders.
Two days ago, a missile battery hit a Black Sea fleet corvette which had come too close to the coast. An incredible slap in the face for the Russian navy by the once underestimated Ukrainian military.
This would have been unimaginable just a few years ago, in a city that still speaks Russian without embarrassment and preserves the monuments of Pushkin and Catherine the Great. Many of its inhabitants have Russian roots.
In the more “nationalistic”, Ukrainian- speaking west of the country, Odesa was often looked at as a potentially treacherous city.
Instead, Odesans have unhesitatingly stood up for Ukraine. Only 10 per cent of the population left, mostly families with children. After the abrupt awakening at 5am on the first day of the invasion, citizens have resigned themselves to the atmosphere of war.
During the day, they quietly shop in the supermarkets, which are still stocked, while others visit the centre or waterfront, despite these areas being militarised. The city watches the sea with apprehension; the Black Sea Fleet is blockading the port and a landing is feared.
This calmness of the population, combined with a strong determination to resist, is probably based on the conviction that Russian troops cannot afford to damage a city so rich in architecture, music and cinema.
It would be very difficult for propaganda to justify the destruction of Odesa, which is so popular in Russia and where many dreamed of coming to relax on the same beaches that today are littered with mines.
