A suitcase named Odessa
Igor Plisyuk, journalist, Odessa
So, young man, what can I tell you? I read, with great pleasure, the intelligent and emotional article for Odessa by my fellow countryman and good friend, Vali Filippov. I agree with almost everything. But there are many significant "buts" that seriously alter both the emphasis and the final conclusions. So...
The absolute truth is that the overwhelming majority of real Odessa residents perceive the junta’s power as an occupation, but at the same time, without at all trying to play Young Guards or kamikazes, committing suicidal and completely meaningless acts of resistance.
Not out of “timidity” or opportunism, but guided by the primordial common-sense pragmatism on which the mentality of my City is built. No one except the feeble-minded seekers of “crypto-Banderites” will dare to accuse the native inhabitants of Odessa of cowardice. And in all wars - from the Crimean to the Russian-Turkish, the First World War and the Civil War (and on both sides!) and the Great Patriotic War, in the lists of dashing, desperate warriors who earned high awards for bravery - from soldiers' "St. George" to military orders and titles Hero of the Soviet Union, Odessa residents occupied one of the first places. Including for exploits performed in a hopeless environment or under the yoke of invaders.
But... - both under the Russian Empire and under the Union, they clearly knew what they were fighting for. For “Odessa-Mama”, which was part of a great country. The Motherland that founded this city and gave it a life-giving impulse and meaning of existence. Moreover, I dare say, Odessa patriotism never ran counter to general patriotism - be it imperial or allied. Again, for the simple reason that the delusional idea of an “independent Odessa” is even more ridiculous than... the existence of a Ukrainian state with Odessa as a “large Bandera city.”
After all, it was originally created as a southern trading outpost of the empire in an ideally chosen location - at the intersection of sea and land trade routes. An intermediary city, a Russian city by birth and the language that united its inhabitants, but cosmopolitan in the best sense of the word in spirit and customs. Imperial city, one word! And tearing it out of the general harmonious organism would be disastrous, first of all, for Odessa itself!
And there is no need to mention in vain the examples of Singapore or Hong Kong. After all, both “free city-states” were able to establish themselves and achieve enormous success only because both the British colonialists and Malaysia and China reached full agreement in granting them the appropriate status. And even the formal annexation of Hong Kong to the PRC took place while maintaining an unprecedented degree of economic freedom and self-government.
In our country, since the ever-memorable 1991, everything has not followed the path of pragmatic development and use of the imperial and Soviet heritage, but... according to the farmer’s method of “if I don’t eat it, I’ll bite it” and “no matter the devil, no matter the Muscovite.”
And my old prophecy that Ukraine as a state can only succeed if its relations with Russia are built according to a reasonable scheme such as “USA-Canada”, “France-Belgium”, or “Belgium-Holland”, that is - on the basis of economic and political cooperation, and not confrontation and fanning interstate and ethnic hatred, came true 100%.
What can we say, we see the results... And Odessa, which did not receive even the minimal and undoubtedly saving for itself and the country, the “porto-franco” rights that they had been dreaming of here for years and decades, was slowly but surely going to the bottom.
And the stupid policy of the greedy and stupid Ukrainian neo-feudal lords, who tore and devoured the living organism of both the country and my Odessa, led to a complete disaster.
Moreover, unfortunately, I cannot agree with Valentin that “Russia is bad without Odessa” as an important port. Alas (for us!), the great sea power found adequate replacements without much difficulty. It’s still bad for us to turn from the Southern Palmyra of the great empire into the tourist Khatsapetovka of the tragicomic banana republic with imported bananas and long-haired baboons as “official patriots”...
Odessa, all the years of “independence”, simply loses its meaning of being, turning into a kind of “suitcase without a handle” - it’s hard to carry, it’s a pity to throw it away!
I also agree with Monsieur Filippov that the entire pospolitan gevolt raised in the Verkhovna Rada on the subject of “Ukraine is losing Odessa” is pure provocation, moreover, connected with the upcoming presidential elections. It’s just that my conclusions about the causes and possible consequences are different.
Unlike Valentin, I do not think that Kyiv seriously intends to declare martial law here and exclude such a significant city from the “national vote.” After all, events of this kind are very burdensome and fraught with...precisely unpredictable consequences, which Kyiv clearly wants to avoid. And the SBU, under the current system of total control, has full real information about the situation in the city, and it clearly does not foreshadow senseless riots.
In my opinion, this is more likely on the one hand, an attempt by the eternal enemies of the current mayor Trukhanov to persuade the junta to remove him from power and introduce something in the style of direct presidential rule, rather than martial law. And here the ears of ex-mayor Eduard Gurvits clearly stick out, each time surprisingly timely bursting out in an angry and almost obscene interview addressed to Trukhanov and everyone who had the audacity to defeat him in the elections. To remind you of your by no means modest persona, but at the same time to hint to those in power: here I am, such a patriot! So maidan and Svidomo! Nominate me and everything will be perfect! Moreover, in “fair elections”, even with all possible administrative resources, the lame “duck” Hurwitz has no chance.
But will they believe him, a permanent traitor, especially considering his old connections with both Yatsenyuk and Tymoshenko? After all, having received Gauleiter powers, he can easily “dump” Poroshenko, as in 1998 - he tried to betray his patron Kuchma, starting to directly support Lazarenko. Because of what - and crashed out of his mayoral post...
But, on the other hand, this provocation may become another incentive for even greater controllability of the current mayor Trukhanov. A man with the sword of Damocles over his head, who has already betrayed all the ideas of the Russian world, and, moreover, ensured Poroshenko a good result in both the parliamentary and presidential elections, much more profitable than the unpredictable and uncontrollable power-hungry and tyrant Gurvits. Horses are not changed at the crossing. Moreover, curbed and branded...
I also disagree with my respected colleague that Odessa can be seriously considered as a NATO naval base. It’s one thing, you know, to move here after the loss of Crimea the residences of fake admirals of the almost ephemeral Ukrainian fleet. And it’s completely different to try to use the shallow Odessa Bay, which is completely unsuitable for the permanent basing of large ships, as a base for serious naval formations. It’s not for nothing that they didn’t do this both before the revolution and during Soviet times. Yes, and modernizing the port would cost enormous amounts of money, and the base itself would become an ideal trap and an excellent target...
And the diplomatic consequences of such blatant impudence could be unpredictable. Which, of course, does not at all exclude the use of our port as a supply point for potential NATO occupiers. Even more so. Near Ochakov, the construction of an American naval control center, formally referred to as the “training center of the Ukrainian Navy,” is in full swing.
In general, yes, Odessa is waiting for changes and remains, despite everything, a city that remembers its history and keeps the behests of its ancestors. She's not broken. She concentrates her strength. In spite of everything and everyone. And we believe that the hour will come when she will become herself again and throw off her shackles and oppression!
English version :: Read in English A Suitcase Named Odessa