Guernseyman Colin Wood, who lives in Odessa with his Ukrainian wife, yesterday told Express: “The entire city of Odessa is now a mass of roadblocks, tank traps, trenches and gun emplacements. The streets are full of Kalashnikov-carrying soldiers and militia.
“A small town 18km to the north of us was hit by some missiles three days ago, but we believe these were cruise missiles shot down by the Ukrainian defence. The Russians fired 80 from the Black Sea towards Lviv [a large city in western Ukraine] and only eight got through, the rest being destroyed enough.
“A week ago, I went and helped build defensive gun emplacements in the city centre, along with a few other guys. Everyone is doing everything they can to help defend our city.”
Pictured: The strength of Ukraine’s defensive forces has helped to slow Vladimir Putin’s advance in Ukraine and in some places Russian troops have been forced into retreat.
Mr Wood, who runs a shop, said that many foods are in short supply and that many customers can’t afford to buy much because they are no longer working.
“Our shop is still open, although deliveries are few and far between,” he said. “We had a big delivery from several suppliers about two weeks ago, but nothing since then.”
“Today, we are getting our first delivery of fresh bread for three weeks, so hopefully we will make some money at last. They are also delivering cakes, which we haven’t had for a long time.
“The food shops are open but staples like dairy products often disappear for a few days, so we buy when we can.
“We still have to pay rent on our apartment and the shop, together with electricity, security, etc. With the average spend in the shop being around £1 due to most people not working, we are rapidly eating into our savings that were going to be used to refurbish the house.”
Pictured: Food and other supplies to Ukraine have inevitably been disrupted by the conflict.
At the outbreak of war, Mr Wood and his wife were preparing to start work on what he described as “a total refurbishment” of a new house elsewhere in the city.
“The area where our new house is located was shelled by Russian navy ships a week ago, but they were chased off. We went to the house yesterday to check it and it is fine.
“We intended to buy a cheap car to be able to get around, as the house we purchased is on the other side of the city, but we have shelved that idea as money is getting tight and we don’t know when this will end.”
Though their fear of war is great, Odessans are now also anxious about peace. Increasingly, they worry that the Ukraine they knew just a few weeks ago may be changed forever, and they are distrustful of the concessions Russia may demand for peace.
Pictured: Talks are ongoing between Ukrainian and Russian officials. Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, has a delicate balance to strike between the fear of war and the consequences of misplaced concessions to his counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
“People are all praying for it to end, but at the same time they would rather fight than give anything away to the Russians,” said Mr Wood.
“I think it will be a tough call for everyone if peace talks result in a referendum that hands parts of eastern Ukraine to the Russians. Ukrainians still want Crimea, which was illegally annexed, to be given back.
“I fear that, if the Russians demand even more of Luhansk Oblast and Donetsk Oblast than they already control, then any referendum will be rejected.”
Pictured (top): Guernseyman Colin Wood in Odessa, where he now lives with his Ukrainian wife.
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