Sawt Falasteen - Odessa, 'pearl of Black Sea', clings to peace, readies for war

With the sweet scent of spring in the air and barricades dotting the city, Ukraine's port of Odessa, known as the pearl of the Black Sea, is clinging to peace, but bracing itself for a Russian attack.

Journalists have to show their credentials in order to access the city's historic centre, which is now covered in iron beams welded into crosses, while tanks are deployed at street junctions.

City and defence officials organise press tours for journalists, thanking them for coming to "show the world what is happening here".

Accompanied by two soldiers, a group of reporters are shown what they can and cannot film, but the atmosphere remains relaxed.

Past a set of barricades, a road is cordoned off with large concrete blocks, with the French national motto "Liberty, equality, fraternity" written in French in yellow and blue, the colours of Ukraine's flag.

In peaceful times, the beautiful centre of Odessa, a city founded in the late 18th century by the Russian Empress Catherine the Great and the France's Duke de Richelieu, is bustling with people and noise.

It boasts trendy cafes, the luxurious "Hotel de Paris", a breathtaking view of the port and of course the 192 steps of the iconic Potemkin Stairs descending toward it.

But today the silence of the city is broken only by a loudspeaker blasting from Odessa's famous funicular, which runs alongside the stairs. "Warning! Alert! Stay safe!" A few shots are sometimes heard from the harbour.

Perched on a pedestal, the famous statue of Richelieu is now completely covered in sandbags, a symbolic image of this conflict that has travelled the world.

A statue of Catherine the Great, which is shorter and less vulnerable, only has the Ukrainian flag to protect it.

- 'Impregnable fortress' -

"Our beautiful Odessa," says Lyudmila, an elegant elderly woman wearing bright lipstick, as she looks apologetically at her city's empty, barricaded streets.

"I don't know if there is another city like this in the world. But thank God we are holding on! Everyone is holding on!"

Diana Krainova, a young and smiling soldier chaperoning the journalists, adds: "It hurts to see our historical heritage covered with sandbags and barricades, but we are ready."

A few streets away, Maria, a petite 60-year-old woman clutching grocery bags in each hand hurries to her apartment building, whose entrance has been barricaded with tyres by the residents. "I've spent all my life here, it's terrible to see that," Maria says.

And suddenly, without warning, Odessa's mayor Gennadiy Rukhanov emerges onto the street from a series of meetings, accompanied by several aides, and stops to talk to journalists.

A native of Odessa, the controversial politician has served as its mayor since 2014. Rukhanov had been implicated in the Panama papers, a list of companies and businesspeople from various countries suspected of tax evasion and money laundering.

"I never thought I would see something like this -- the duke covered in sandbags," Rukhanov says.

"We had plans to renovate the city centre, and here we are thinking about the war. It's horrible, it doesn't make sense."

Odessa, a key port of about 1 million people, of whom around 100,000 have left since the invasion began, is both a strategic and symbolic target for the Russians.

Rukhanov said Odessa was ready to fight thanks to the "heroic cities of Mykolaiv and Kherson" to the east that have been staunchly repelling Russian troops.

"This gave us 21 days to prepare, build barricades, provide food, medicine, and make our city an impregnable fortress," he said.

A.Suleiman--SF-PST