Under fire from the sea, Ukrainian families in Odesa try to escape Russian barrage

From Mariia’s 16th-floor apartment, the calm waters of the Black Sea stretch towards the horizon under the fading twilight.

“You can see and hear the drones coming here,” he says, standing next to a wall-length, floor-to-ceiling window. “We also see all the fires” as they hit buildings and homes in the city of Odessa below.

Her nine-year-old daughter, Eva, is learning the shapes and sounds of objects hurtling across the sky every day. He proudly shows off the list of social media channels he checks when air raid warnings go off.

“He knows whether what’s coming is a risk or a threat, and that calms him down,” says his father, Sergii.

There is virtually no place in Ukraine that has not been targeted since Russia launched its all-out invasion nearly four years ago.

However, in recent weeks, Odesa, Ukraine’s third largest city, has been subjected to constant attacks. Russia is trying to cripple the region’s economy and demoralize the population by attacking ports and energy infrastructure.

But Moscow isn’t just hitting facilities. Their drones, many as large as a motorcycle, regularly crash into tall buildings like Masha’s, exploding on impact and sending glass and debris flying inwards. The consequences are often fatal.

“A few months ago, Eva said she was afraid the drone would come too fast and we wouldn’t have time to hide,” says Mariia. “But I told him that if he came towards us, the noise would get louder and then we would know we had to run away.”

Mariia, Sergii and Eva originally come from Kherson, a region located 200 km (125 m) east of Odessa and currently largely occupied by Russia.

They left as soon as the occupation began in 2022, and mother and daughter briefly moved to Germany as refugees. However, Sergii and Mariia could not stand the distance and the family reunited in Ukraine and moved to Odessa.

Now, as attacks on the area intensify, Sergii wonders whether the family should prepare to leave again. “The war is just about economics, and for the Russians Odessa is about infrastructure, so they will do whatever they can to conquer it,” he says.

Located in southwestern Ukraine, Odessa was an economic powerhouse before the war. But now that Russia occupies the majority of Ukraine’s coastline, the region has become even more vital. Its three ports are the largest in Ukraine and include the country’s only deep-water port. With land crossings disrupted, 90% of Ukrainian exports were shipped by sea last year.

However, the importance of the region in wartime is also its weakness.

Last month, Vladimir Putin threatened to cut off Ukraine’s access to the sea in retaliation for Ukraine’s attacks on “shadow fleet” tankers that Russia uses to circumvent sanctions.

This threat has turned into a tangible impact. For two years, Russia’s attempts to thwart the Odessa economy have been almost brutal; But the last few weeks have been especially difficult.

Air strikes on ports destroyed cargo and containers and damaged infrastructure; Crews of foreign commercial ships operating in the Gulf of Odessa were injured or killed by drones; and 800 air raid alerts in one year repeatedly halted port operations.

The result last year was a 45% drop in exports of agricultural products vital to Odessa’s economy.

The day after a drone strike this week that set a Panama-flagged ship on fire and severely injured one of its crew, regional government head Oleh Kiper said shipowners entering Odessa ports “clearly understood that they were entering a war zone” and that the ships were insured.

However, if such attacks continue, foreign companies’ trade with the port may be delayed in the long term.

As attacks increase, air sirens sound frequently, but not everyone heeds them. Standing outside a destroyed gym the morning after an overnight drone strike that injured seven people, Maryna Averina of the State Emergency Service agrees that people have “become very careless about their own safety.”

A recent air raid alert lasted most of the day. “Sitting in a shelter for 16 hours is absolutely unrealistic,” says Averina, as gym staff emerge from the collapsed building with the objects they managed to salvage from the rubble and crushed metal inside.

While many Ukrainians have now unfortunately become accustomed to drone and missile attacks, they are increasingly worn out by the brutal attacks that have knocked out electricity and heating, especially in the middle of a freezing winter.

Almost a million people were left without electricity in Odessa in December. “We were among the first regions to experience what it means to spend the winter without electricity and heating,” says Oleh Kiper.

A month later, supplies were severely disrupted as temperatures hovered around -1C.

Ada, 36, is walking on the beach, unaffected by the air alarm sirens mixing with the chirping of seagulls. Drone attacks have increased, but “the bombardment is not as scary as this cold,” he says.

Nearby, a young mother named Yana agrees. The situation in general has been “really, really difficult” lately, he says. At one point a drone crashed into his flat, and soon after another crashed into the block.

Then came the power outages. He and his family bought an expensive generator, but it costs about $10 to run it for seven hours. This is a significant expense in a country where the average monthly salary is around $500 (£375).

“Unfortunately, we’ve all been living like this for four years. We’re as helpless as flies and everything is decided by the authorities,” she says, trying to keep her screaming toddler away from the icy water.

“Maybe we are being punished for something – the whole nation, not just a few, but everyone.”

Further down the beach, Kostya is fishing on a pier jutting into the sea. He says he is not worried about the Russians advancing on the city. “I don’t think they will be successful here. [The Ukrainians] “They’ll break your legs first.”

But he adds that the events were painful and frightening. And like many Ukrainians, he still seems to have a hard time accepting that four years ago, a war started by a neighbor he once knew well came to his country.

In his youth, Kostya served in the army and swore an oath to the Soviet Union. “I never thought I’d see something like this in my old age,” he says.

Although Russian propagandists have long insisted that Ukraine’s independence since 1991 was a historical mistake, Odessa’s past role as the jewel in the crown of the Russian empire means that it still has strong symbolic significance for Moscow.

Vladimir Putin has repeatedly described Odessa as a “Russian city” and frequently invokes the concept of “liberating Novorossiya”, a historical region of the Russian empire encompassing parts of modern southern and eastern Ukraine, including Odessa.

“They wanted and still want to capture Odessa, like many other regions, but today everything possible and impossible is being done by our army to prevent this from happening,” the regional government leader said.

Oleh Kiper made it a personal mission to cut Odessa’s remaining ties with Russia. He is a staunch supporter of the 2023 Decolonization Act, which would direct local officials to purge their cities of any street names, monuments or inscriptions that could be linked to Russia’s imperial past.

Among the statues to be removed is a monument to Russian Empress Catherine the Great, the founder of Odessa, while streets named after Russian and Soviet figures have been renamed. Pushkin Street has become Italian Street and Catherine Street has now become European Street. Kiper also supports the use of Ukrainian in a city where Russian is still widely spoken.

He is defiant when asked about the resistance faced by the people of Odes, who are proud of their heritage as a multicultural port opening to the world.

“The enemy is doing much more than we are to ensure that a Russian-speaking city becomes Ukrainian,” says Kiper. “This forces people to understand who the Russians are and whether we need them.”

The next day, the city suffered a month-long partial power outage as temperatures dropped to -6C and air raid warnings remained in effect for four hours. The Chernomorsk port east of Odessa was once again hit by a ballistic missile and one of the crew of a civilian ship was injured.

Russia, like the rest of Ukraine, appears determined to continue maiming Odessa if it cannot take it.

Additional reporting by Liubov Sholudko