Posted on 05/21/2022 3:34:15 PM PDT by dennisw
Joe Biden: There's A 'Domestic Terror' Problem In America Once derided as a Kremlin sympathiser, Odessa's Mayor Gennady Trukhanov likes to collect his thoughts before delving into his feelings about Russia and President Vladimir Putin.
"The Russians are on our soil today and they are bombing our cities, killing our people and our soldiers. Our people are dying," the mayor of the southern Ukrainian port city told AFP.
"It is hard for me to speak of any kind of future friendship or relationship. I can't imagine that," the mayor added, his steel-blue eyes flashing as he rails against Russian air strikes, the Black Sea blockade and the millions of tonnes of grain trapped in his ports.
"Putin destroyed everything," he fumed.
Before the war, the 57-year-old Odessa native carved out a polarising career in Ukraine's raucous political scene as a one-time member of former president Viktor Yanukovych's Kremlin-backed party that was overthrown by a popular uprising in 2014.
But even as unrest rattled Ukraine and anti-Russian sentiment surged, Trukhanov continued to rise through the ranks and was elected mayor of Odessa only months after Yanukovych was ousted and violent clashes over the fallout rattled the port city.
But now, with thousands dead and millions displaced in the wake of Russia's invasion, the mayor bristles at the mention of Moscow.
With Russian troops just 120 miles away, Trukhanov oversees the defence of the country's most valuable port amid a suffocating Russian naval blockade that has unleashed economic catastrophe in Ukraine and threatens famine elsewhere if Odessa's bountiful stocks of grain remain landlocked."They are not only destroying our cities and killing our residents, they are also triggering an economic collapse," the mayor said.
The war with Russia has been particularly painful for Odessa, even as the city has avoided the brutal ground fighting ongoing across swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine.
Cleaning up in Odessa after the latest Russian attack
Founded during the reign of Catherine the Great, the city -- with its baroque architecture and sandy beaches -- became emblematic of the glory days of the Russian empire and was later one of the most valuable ports during the Soviet era.
And as Ukraine gained independence, Odessa maintained its deep economic, familial, and cultural ties with Russia along with its own share of accusations in recent years of harbouring pro-Kremlin sympathies.
But the sentiment is changing.
On Friday, a member of Odessa's city council unveiled a proposal to replace the city's streets named after Russian cities and historical figures and be given new names honouring US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Gennady Trukhanov, Odessa's mayor today bristles at the mention of Moscow, his former ally
As Trukhanov points out, the centuries of goodwill that once flourished between the cosmopolitan port and Russia is being undercut with every new airstrike.
"With their rockets they think that they are spreading panic and fear among the residents of Odessa," Trukhanov said.
"In fact, they raise the degree of hatred of Odessa residents toward the occupiers and invaders even higher."
In between meetings on Friday, Trukhanov careened through Odessa's grinding traffic in his black Range Rover to visit the scene of a recent air strike, where he sought to reassure residents.
Hands clasped, Trukhanov nodded as locals from the area peppered the mayor with a slew of questions about rebuilding efforts and potential reimbursements.
"It's a crime," said resident Igor Shpagin, 55, while surveying the four-storey hole a Russian strike punched through his apartment building during the Orthodox Easter weekend last month.
"What can we do, this is a war between politicians," added retired police officer Groza Alexander, whose family survived the attack.
The timings of certain strikes have been particularly galling for Odessa residents.
On May 9 amid the festivities to celebrate the victory over Nazi Germany in Moscow, Putin laid flowers in front of a monument honouring the Soviet Union's "hero cities", including Odessa.
Hours later, a barrage of Russian missiles rained down on Odessa.
"What do you expect from someone who bombs children? People are dying every day here," said Alexandra Kaseyenko, a 29-year-old Odessa resident. "It's shocking for a lot of people. We used to be brothers."
Trukhanov shares the dismay at the staggering turn of events.
Russians and Ukrainians together helped defeat Nazi Germany during World War II, the mayor explained.
"No one could have imagined that in 2022 our people -- Ukrainian refugees -- would be hiding in Germany from Russian missiles," he said.
Did they speak up about the death and destruction going on in the Donbass for 8 years at the hands of the Ukrainian national guard? Those ppl are “their brothers” too.
“On Friday, a member of Odessa’s city council unveiled a proposal to replace the city’s streets named after Russian cities and historical figures and be given new names honouring US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.”
****
Really? SEND MORE MISSILES.
“’Putin Destroyed Everything,’ Says Odessa Mayor”
A bit premature to state, since Russia hasn’t moved to liberate the city.
It’s really up to Odessa as to whether their city remains intact, or ends up like Mariupol. Either way, within a couple of weeks, it will become another Russian bargaining chip.
I think you mean Putin and his DPR feral dogs.
Putin may yet achieve his political objectives in this war. But it comes at the cost of engendering undying hatred for generations in Ukrainians for Russia. But Putin’s time is short in this world and he may not care.
Then, how are politicians from all over the world managing to fly in and and out of Kiev?
This is the new definition of winning...
Yes, he also didn’t mention the Ukranian troops and weapons located in those bombed locations. A short time ago Russia bombed a big shopping mall in Odessa. I wondered why?
But, when I did some additional reading I discovered that was one place they were storing the US/NATO weapons which explained why there were tremendous explosions and huge fire.
“Putin may yet achieve his political objectives in this war. But it comes at the cost of engendering undying hatred for generations in Ukrainians for Russia.”
That’s something of Russia’s specialty. Take a nation that is mostly friendly (Poland, Estonia, Czechs) brutalize them for a few decades and then wonder why everyone hates you.
Did you rad the article? This guy was a pro-Russia politician, and Odessa is Russian speaking city. Pre-war the region was strongly in favor of closer ties with Russia.
But when Russia invaded all of that changed. Any divisions within the Ukrainian nation vanished instantly when faced with a brutal common enemy.
Odessa is in a region not content with the Ukrainian government. But if the mayor isn’t sufficiently hostile to Russia with his words he will be killed. Keep that in mind as you read this
A street named after Biden? Incompetent Boulevard? Dementia Way?
According to a 2004 public opinion poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, the number of people using Russian language in their homes considerably exceeds the number of those who declared Russian as their native language in the census. According to the survey, Russian is used at home by 43–46% of the population of the country (in other words a similar proportion to Ukrainian) and Russophones make a majority of the population in Eastern and Southern regions of Ukraine:[26]
Autonomous Republic of Crimea — 97% of the population
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast — 72%
Donetsk Oblast — 93%
Luhansk Oblast — 89%
Zaporizhia Oblast — 81%
Odessa Oblast — 85%
Kharkiv Oblast — 74%
Mykolaiv Oblast — 66%
“his steel-blue eyes flashing”
those are tears.
The Russian bots are really in to projection.
In Ukraine people don't have to worry about falling out of windows.
Because when you commit rape, the victim isn't supposed to resist. If he does, everything you do in response is morally justified.
You can learn a lot of interesting facts by reading this article:
1. Odessa was founded hundreds of years ago by the Russian Empire,
2. The Port of Odessa is blockaded by a fleet that has either been sunk or evacuated to the Crimea,
3. Streets are being renamed for Joe Brandon, the 10% Big Guy who has been delivering $Billions and $Billions
Can you even bother linking the source?
In the mean time no one really cared.(same wikipedia article)
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/the-truth-behind-ukraine-s-language-policy/
Will the “language issue” mobilize the pro-Russian electorate? Opinion polls conducted by KMIS, Sociological Group Rating, and GfK Ukraine in 2016-2017 demonstrate that the status of the Russian language is important to just one percent of respondents. KMIS research in May 2017 shows that the share does not exceed three percent even in eastern regions.
Meanwhile, the same research shows that 64 percent of citizens think the state should support the Ukrainian language above all. Respondents in the eastern and southern parts of the country (35 and 38 percent respectively) also named state support to Ukrainian language as a top priority.
But I guess this doesn't fit your narrative.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.