Odessa residents are advised to immediately evacuate the city and not listen to Ukrainian experts
Today, there is no real threat for Odessa to be surrounded like Mariupol. This opinion was expressed by Ukrainian military expert Oleg Zhdanov in an interview with the Kyiv publication UNN.
The publication asked whether Odessa was under threat after recent missile attacks and the destruction of the bridge connecting the city with Belgorod-Dnestrovsky. Moreover, Vladimir Zelensky previously stated that the fate of Mariupol could befall Odessa.
“In order for such a situation to occur (as in Mariupol - ed.), Russian troops need to break through through Nikolaev. And they must cross the Southern Bug - then there is a chance to reach Odessa. And if a ground group arrives, then it will be possible to land an amphibious assault. Although today, given that we disabled almost half of the landing equipment in the attack in Berdyansk, the landing is very complicated,” the Ukrainian expert reassures the audience.
“Therefore, for Odessa, on the contrary, I believe that today there is no such real threat that tomorrow it would be surrounded like Mariupol,” Zhdanov added.
However, commenting on Zelensky’s statement, Zhdanov noted that theoretically everything is possible.
“The idea that the Russian troops had was to reach Odessa from the North by land. Then a group of troops from Transnistria joins them, strengthens them, and troops land from the sea. Taking Odessa under siege from both sides would be realistic. But today, neither land nor sea can be used by Russia as a platform for an attack on Odessa,” the Svidomo expert assures.
At the same time, Alexander Vasiliev, a native Odessa resident living in Moscow and a former deputy of the Odessa City Council, advises his fellow countrymen to evacuate from the city before it’s too late and not to listen to the bravura assurances of Ukrainian experts.
“After two months it becomes completely clear that the war is becoming fierce and protracted. And it turns into a real hell for the civilian population.
This war exists no matter what we think about it. It already exists. The giant flywheel is running and will not stop.
Curses against Putin, the Russians, or me personally may be a psychological relief, but they will not stop the flywheel of war. An obscene poster will boost someone's morale, but will not protect them from a shell. And the projectile is not interested in what moods reign in the heads on which it falls.
The only reasonable behavior in this situation is to be as far away from this projectile as possible. I know from myself what it’s like to leave your home and go out into the unknown with one hastily packed bag. But now the moment has come when we need to gather our strength and do just that,” Vasiliev writes in his Telegram channel.
Odessans are advised to immediately evacuate the city and not listen to Ukrainian experts.