Is Odessa Next?

BBC

Is Putin’s Next Move to Take Over Odessa? -- Eli Lake and Josh Rogin, Daily Beast

There are increasing signs that the unrest in eastern Ukraine is spreading, and Odessa, the country’s third-largest city, could be the next to fall.

Crimea is in Moscow’s hands. Deadly fighting has broken out in parts of Eastern Ukraine. And now there are signs that Russian President Vladimir Putin may have picked his next targets: First a small breakaway state in Moldova, west of Ukraine, where thousands of Moscow’s troops are already stationed; then its close neighbor Odessa, Ukraine’s third-largest city and its largest remaining port, where pro-Russian and pro-government groups are tangling. If forces loyal to Putin can successfully disrupt Odessa, it could effectively cut the county of Ukraine in two.

A firefight between pro-Russian forces and Ukrainian troops left three dead and 13 wounded in the Black Sea port of Mariupol late on Wednesday. Officials and experts inside Ukraine are also becoming more and more concerned that weeks of unrest, likely spurred on by the Russian government, are increasing in frequency and scale in Transnistria, the autonomous region on the Ukraine-Moldova border where as many as 2,500 Russian peacekeepers are stationed. Protests and counter-protests have also spread to Odessa—a city of over 1 million that’s less than 50 miles from Transnistria. And that’s stoking fears of a new front opening in the raging battle between the Ukrainian government in Kiev and pro-Russian forces operating all over eastern and now southern Ukraine. If Transnistria moves into Putin’s camp, Odessa could well follow.

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My Comment: Taking over Odessa will not be an easy task. While Russian is the primary language, the majority of it's one million inhabitants are Ukrainian .... and many of them are not sympathetic to Moscow. On a personal note .... if I was to live in eastern Europe .... Odessa and Sochi would be the the two places that I would love to stay. Odessa is an incredibly beautiful city .... and being on the Black Sea makes it even better. I have been there at least ten times in my life .... and each time that I have been there makes me want to come back for more.