Attack on Odesa

An aid raid alert was in place from about 2 a.m., for 2 and a quarter hours last night. I was woken by the sound of distant explosions, having slept through the air raid siren, which you can barely hear in our area. The bangs continued, some much closer, one louder than the sound of any thunder I've heard, shaking the walls and windows. I felt as frightened as I ever feel in Kherson; things always seem worse at night.

Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep. When the all clear siren sounded I went out onto our balcony and heard the reassuring scraping of a city worker's brush (the ones made of twigs, like a witch's broomstick), sweeping the pavement below. He or she (still too dark to see) must have been waiting until the minute the all clear sounded...life returning to normal.

In the morning we learned that Russia launched 6 cruise missiles and a series of drone strikes across Ukraine - as well  as Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv and Cherkasy.  All were shot down but falling debris damaged houses and port facilities in Odesa, and caused a fire in the port of Mykolaiv.

These vicious attacks on the port cities of Odesa and Mykolaiv seem to be a further diabolical snub, coming, as they did, hours after Moscow pulled out of a deal that would allow Ukrainian grain to be shipped from Black Sea ports. As the Ukrainian presidential adviser, Andriy Yermak, commented:

"The Russian night attack on Odesa and Mykolaiv with the use of rockets and kamikaze drones is more proof that the terrorist country wants to endanger the lives of 400 million people in various countries that depend on Ukrainian food exports."

He is referring, amongst others, to countries on the African continent that rely on grain coming from southern Ukrainian ports, across the Black Sea, through the Bosphoros Strait and then to Africa. This has also been described as the 'weaponisation' of hunger.

I read that only about 15 per cent of Ukraine's grain last year could be exported, some of it via the laborious process of traveling overland. This means that last year's harvests will be rotting in warehouses. And the first wheat crop for this year has already been gathered in.

Putin says that last night's attacks were in revenge for the explosions that damaged the Kerch bridge, which is the only land link between Crimea and Russia, and therefore a legitimate target. It is horrific and sad that a couple died, and their daughter was badly injured, in a car on the bridge. But this would not have happened if Putin had not launched his illegal invasion of Ukraine and, in 2014, illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula.

After a difficult night, it turned out to be a hot and stressful afternoon. We had aid to collect in 3 different locations in Odesa. The air conditioning in the van stopped working and Google maps conspired against us getting to two of the destinations, without going round in circles! By the time we finished it was rush hour, which Bob found is no less challenging to drive in than rush hour in Lviv.

Still, we have a full van load to drive to Kherson tomorrow, thanks to the local aid charity, Lighthouse of Revival, including food clothes and building tools.

Bob is seeing the doctor for high blood pressure, which was 175 over 105 when we got home. He says: "This is practically what it gets to when watching the Gold Cup at Cheltenham!! Glad we're only driving to Kherson tomorrow!!!!  "That'll help."