Faced with Russian pressure and the impossibility of escaping Odessa, Ukrainian grandparents decide to stay

While the Russians are stepping up their actions against the Odessa region of southwestern Ukraine, following yesterday's attack from two ships, Ukrainian grandparents sit quietly in the park to play chess, because faced with the physical, mental and economic impossibility of fleeing, they have only one option: stay in the city and wait.

In Soborna Square, in the center of Odessa, anti-aircraft alarms are mixed with the ringing of the bells of the Transfiguration Cathedral, which begin to sound when the sirens are triggered in the face of a possible attack. Despite these sounds, several grandparents gather every day to play and without protecting themselves in any shelter.

“The underground shelters are from before World War II, so I'm not sure they can handle modern weapons,” says Efe Andriy, a 70-year-old pensioner, as one of the alarms goes off, although he prefers to stay in the park while he prepares to watch a game of chess.

The city of Odessa, the so-called pearl of the Black Sea, has been in tension practically since Russia's war against Ukraine began on February 24, as it is one of Moscow's most prized targets as it is one of the most strategic points in the country.

But yesterday the inhabitants experienced a peak of tension after days of relative calm when two Russian ships attacked with artillery on the outskirts of the city, the first time they came so close to the city, damaging residential buildings, but without casualties, according to Odessa municipal authorities.

In addition, a senior Pentagon official said yesterday that they had detected an increase in Russian naval activity in the Black Sea and indicated that some of the artillery attacks on Odessa were the result of the activities of that Russian fleet, “especially amphibious combat vessels.”

However, the source asserted that this does not mean that there would be an amphibious assault on the town from the port of Odessa, something that the population fears since the beginning of the war.

Despite this threat to the city, Andriy, who caresses his thick mustache, has only one thing worried about: his monthly pension.

“We come here every day, to the park, because we don't know what is going to happen and especially what will happen to us. If we don't get paid our monthly pension, what are we going to do? We can't work,” says Andriy, 70, who receives a pension of about 250 euros ($276).

Leaving town is not one of Andriy's plans or that of any of his colleagues who accompany him to these morning chess games that can last until sundown.

Wearing a wool hat called papaja, Andriy, who used to work as a security officer, says he doesn't know “how to live abroad.” Therefore, he insists that he is not going to leave because, in addition, “money is needed to flee” and “not everyone can leave the city”.

At one of the tables in the park with the chessboard and the rope timer already prepared, Vladimir and Anatoliy, both also 70 years old, concentrate on their departure.

While Boris, 71, waits for checkmate to take the loser's position, he assures Efe: “Who are we going to leave for? We are between 70 and 80 years old, where are we going to go? If I were young, I would leave.”

When Vladimir gets up after losing the game by chaining one cigar after another, he jokingly tells Efe that Odessa means “God's smile” and that nothing is going to happen to him.

“Who is going to protect us? We don't have protectors,” he explains and emphasizes the issue of pensions: “It doesn't make sense for us to leave when we have money.”

According to the latest figures from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Ukrainian citizens, mostly women and children, who have left their country as a result of the Russian invasion amount to 3.48 million.

Among refugees and internally displaced persons, UNHCR fears that some 10 million Ukrainians, almost a quarter of the country's total population, have been forced to leave their homes.

(with information from EFE)

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