Odessa is the key city for Putin. What at first seemed just a theory (creating a corridor between the Donbass and the Black Sea) has become a key objective of Russian forces. Heavy bombing raids have been carried out in the last few hours to hit key points and weaken Ukrainian resistance. Analysts explain why Ukrainians have recaptured many positions in the Kyiv region. The Russians actually changed their strategy, retreating to Belarus and concentrating their attacks on Mariupol and even Odessa. Putin gave precise inputs to the generals targeting the city: he forced them to surrender, and then, using the power of parallel territorial conquests in Donbass, sat down at the peace table to impose tough terms on Zelenskyy. If it is true that the war plans only have another month’s horizon, the tsar could be content with partial conquests, which, however, would destroy Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
Explosions rocked the southern Ukrainian Black Sea port city of Odessa early Sunday when the city was hit by an airstrike by Operation Command South, a formation of Ukraine’s ground forces in southern Ukraine. The attacks hit the city’s infrastructure. pic.twitter.com/zHb2P7YIuA
Samson Nyimu (@SamsonNyimu4) April 3, 2022
Odessa is attacked: tank farms are bombed
Kyiv admits losses in the attack on the refinery
Russian forces destroyed Ukraine’s largest refinery in Kremenchuk in a missile attack on Friday, April 1. According to media reports, a Russian raid also hit a fuel depot in Odessa this morning. The Russian Defense Ministry then confirmed that it had “destroyed an oil refinery and three fuel depots near the city of Odessa.” The Russian attack this morning in Odessa hit “critical infrastructure,” admitted Serhii Bratchuk, spokesman for the region’s military administration, in a speech on Ukrainian television.
Ukraine, air raids on Odessa: tank farm hit video
fear of the citizens
“We didn’t hear the roar, but the sky above the city was gray and a huge black cloud could be seen from here too.” Activists from Mediterranea Saving Humans tell the Adnkronos about their awakening after the Russian attack on a fuel depot in Odessa . The NGO team arrived in the Ukrainian city to scout for future humanitarian operations in the south of the country. “When the explosions happened, we were in the hotel, we should have moved this morning, but now it’s impossible to get out of Odessa,” they explain. And also approach the coastal area. The military protects the area. “They told us there were no injuries. There were multiple explosions, at least six, hitting multiple areas. Those closest to us said they heard a loud bang and the windows were shaking, says the Mediterranea team. “Long columns of black smoke” were clearly visible for several hours immediately after the attack. “Everywhere it stinks of gasoline, an intense and acrid smell, the air is becoming unbearable.” The refinery hit by the Russians is far from the center. “But the flames are still clearly visible even from a kilometer away.” After the attacks this morning, life in Odessa continues “in a seminormal way”. While the inner city is “militarized and well protected by soldiers” and a “war climate” with checkpoints and trenches made of sandbags and concrete blocks prevails, the everyday life of the Ukrainians is welcome outside. “The supermarkets are open, as is a park where two kiosks sell cigarettes and sweets,” says the Mediterranea team. “We are told that half of Odessa residents have left in the last few weeks.
Why is Transnistria so important for Russia? The strategic position and the prelude to the attack on Odessa
The city is a hub
Those who remain, out of conviction or out of necessity, know full well that the city is a key point and can be attacked at any moment». “They respect rules, controls and curfews. Those who have chosen to stay know what is in store for them, they know what it means to stay in a city that is part of a war zone ». At the border between Moldova and Ukraine, in Palanka, Mediterranea activists saw long queues of cars. “A lot of women alone or with children, people who are ready to return to Odessa for various reasons: there are those who do not want to leave loved ones, those who decided to help the country, those who do not have housing found in Moldova, those who think that Odessa is not Mariupol and that the situation here is not so terrible. At least for now. The risks are known and accepted by the Ukrainian people who want to make their own contribution to the glory of this country».
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