Odessa is the Ukrainian city most affected by Russian drones, cruise missiles and rockets after Kharkiv. The victims are mostly civilians. Our war correspondent's impressions from the scene – also on video.
Kurt Pelda, Odessa/ch media
The old town of the port city of Odessa is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Despite the war, its Mediterranean charm has remained undiminished. The city center was built in the shape of a checkerboard according to the orders of Russian Empress Catherine the Great at the end of the 18th century.
Anti-aircraft tracer rounds over the port of Odessa.Image: x
Russian rockets did severely damage the majestic Transfiguration Cathedral and destroyed the modern but ugly high-rise “Odessa Hotel” near the port. Despite this, the people of Odessa continued to go about their business as if nothing had happened. This famous opera is one of the city's shows and is still performed today. Nightlife also goes on, just delayed a bit as the curfew starts at midnight.
Drone attack on video:
Video: Kurt Pelda
We were sitting in the winter garden of a restaurant, dinner had already been eaten, and there were no air alarms to disrupt the relaxed atmosphere. The restaurant staff had just put up Christmas decorations. Suddenly the staccato sound of anti-aircraft fire could be heard.
Just like in World War II
The beam from his headlamp scanned the night sky for the black Russian Jelan drone. Ukrainians disdainfully call them mopeds because of the noisy propeller engines. “Geran” means geranium in Russian. Russia interestingly named many of its weapons after flowers, such as gerbera, peony, mallow or tulip.
The origin of “Geranium” is actually Iran, where the missile is called “Shahid”, which means martyr. This is appropriate because the warhead, which is estimated to weigh 50 kilograms, will explode on impact with the ground. Today, these small aircraft are also manufactured under license in Russia.
Image: Ukrainian National Police
A veritable fireworks display, consisting of isolated yellow dots from tracer bullets and anti-aircraft missiles, had now erupted in the sky. The drones usually reach Odessa across the sea from the nearby Crimean Peninsula. The port from which Ukraine exports some of its grain is one of the preferred destinations, as well as for government buildings or city energy infrastructure. Like most Russian stand-off weapons, the Geranium is not particularly accurate. They also often crash into residential areas that have no military significance.
The roar of “Geranium”
We now heard for the first time the sound of the Geranium's two-stroke engine; it flew past the restaurant, out of sight, and exploded in the distance. The play or radio drama is repeated many times. Just before impact, gunners from anti-aircraft guns and heavy machine guns on pickup trucks made a last-ditch effort to shoot down the drone. The staccato sound increases immediately after the impact and weakens until the next buzzing sound.
Our war correspondent Kurt Perda reports regularly from Ukraine.Image: Raymond Rupken
There are still cars and pedestrians on the streets. Some Odyssians look at their phone screens at times like this. A private channel on the Telegram messaging service explains to people how many drones or ballistic missiles are currently heading to Odessa and when they are expected to arrive. Many residents do not take the danger posed by drones too seriously, as the two-stroke engines of the “Geranium” can be heard very early. With ballistic missiles, there is virtually no warning time. Their warheads are roughly ten times larger—and correspondingly more deadly.
Now, whenever a Geranium or a Russian cruise missile explodes, a violent explosion is heard again and again. The Russians are trying to confuse and overload Ukrainian air defenses by launching large numbers of drones followed by large rockets or cruise missiles. So the missiles kept passing through defensive fire.
giggling after attack
When we stood on the street watching the fireworks, the roar of “Geranium” came closer again. Then she pounced on her target, hearing the roar of engines and the sound of propellers spinning as they accelerated. The sound is somewhat reminiscent of the howl of German dive bombers during World War II. Now it's time to go inside. When I opened the door, “Geranium” exploded at the end of the street, around the corner. A flash of yellow cut through the night. Shards of glass from the winter garden where we were sitting not long ago were flying in the air, and several wooden slats of the exterior cladding were torn from their fastenings by pressure waves.
Within minutes, restaurant employees began cleaning up the broken glass. They were giggling and looking in good spirits – a phenomenon I've seen in wars around the world, when people survived dangerous situations unharmed.
As another “geranium” exploded, an ambulance roared by. The fire department also came to lay out hoses. The concert hall in a grand neoclassical building was attacked. Residents appeared calm. Rockets and cruise missiles have struck here before. Authorities would later report one death and 10 injuries. Having seen enough, we returned to our unassuming hotel on the outskirts of town, where there would be no “geraniums”. (aargauerzeitung.ch)
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