“If they attack us, he will be here” – Corriere.it

s.o there. On the blackness of the sea. Some lights hung in the dark. birth scene A threat. When it is clear at night, they can be seen from the port, from the edges of the docks, from the storage terminal. And the kamali learned to recognize them: the yellow beams of slavs, the bright flashes of Kirov, the dark shadows of cruisers. Thirty ships, Black Sea Fleet, Russian flag. He sailed from Sevastopol, Novorossiysk, lost Crimea. exercises Moscow clarifies. beginning of the naval blockade, NATO accuses.

“The day is approaching,” Gennady Trukhanov scans the horizon, Mayor of Odessa“They will be fifteen minutes away from us, no more…”. Fishermen know that it is better to sail at sea, and the Ukrainian Navy it is good to patrol. And Trukhanov also understood that it was useful to organize: the other day he met in Kharkiv with the mayors of major cities and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, who was addressing them under the snow. in military uniform; Then he ran home, also putting on a practical hat and a blue jacket with “Aeronautica Militare” written in Italian. He flies for inspection at the meeting, upon his return from the port he receives two experts sent by the German government: “The situation is evolving“Regional defense was organized with Zelensky,” he says. He’ll give us a million dollars. But with the Germans we realized that the work would be very long: we have 353 air-raid shelters from the Soviet era, and they are all shabby. 85 is only usable. The ventilation systems need to be redesigned, we turned to the Israelis, but these are very expensive things… ». Lots of time and not there. In these hours Odessa Raises the alert from yellow to orangeAnd There will be a night curfew“If Biden hadn’t told me, I would have never thought about the situation was falling. But he is the American president. And he must necessarily know many more details than I: My duty is to tell my people that they must keep their eyes open.”

What if they came from the Black Sea? A non-existent war suggests thousands of possible fronts. This is the least likely to be quoted: “So… Something going onThe mayor of Odessa muttered, “It happens in the Donbass or here.” He was a captain in the army for ten years, something he understood when Observing Russian cruisers with their already towed machine gunsWithout protective covers: “It is reasonable that the naval attack was at the head of the attack aircraft.” Because the danger isoci ciornie
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Putin may give you a black eye when you least expect it and from where you least expect it. Only peer, then: on file steps Battleship PotemkinIn front of the port Escalation can be seen very well. Last week, people looked at the endless columns of trucks driving out of Kiev. They carried missiles and slowly pulled tanks towards the borders of Transnistria, where a great deal of the Russian army mustered.

Odessa The gateway to Europe, Turkey is five hours away, About a hundred kilometers from Moldova: The first to know are the Syrian or Iraqi refugees who pass through here to better emigrate. but also Arms dealers, ecstasy dealers, mafia containers who have always found a safe haven. Odessa is Ukraine’s wallet, on the waterfront you can understand Bentley and Ferrari for some of the few who return, every now and then, to greet old friends between Monte Carlo or California. Odessa is Putin’s forbidden applethe pearl he misses dominating the Black Sea: “Eight years ago,” says Attilio Maliani, Calabrian who works as a political advisor to the mayor“When the Russians captured Crimea, there was absolutely no such feeling of pain that we feel now, with all these forces at the gates.”

In the central square there is a sign indicating the capitals of the world, Moscow is 1136 kilometers away, yet it is already in the foreground, it is always here. They speak almost less Ukrainian than English. After the anti-Russian Maidan revolution, in the park they tried to demolish monuments dedicated to Pushkin and Catherine the Great: they refused. Those over seventy are still in their pockets Old Russian passport. Who loves cinema remember that Odessa was soviet wasHere I filmed and presented the films of the system. Even ruble bags were never available: in one of the most beaten nightclubs by Odessa nightlife, the one dedicated to the three million Turkish and European tourists who flock to summer, The Russian owner (Putin’s friend) filmed himself sitting on the Throne of Borinissimo from Plexiglas Filled with bills, two million dollars to show off. He had a large inscription on it: “My vernulish!” we are back. They are back, yes, there at the bottom of the sea.