In Odesa’s ‘Wonder City’, Ukrainians suffer worst winter of Russian attack

ODESA: In the “Wonder City” apartment complex in Ukraine’s Odesa, life has been anything but for the hundreds of residents suffering some of the worst Russian bombardments of the nearly four-year war.
Moscow has been raining down missiles and drones at the port city — a tourist hub known as the “pearl of the Black Sea”, with sweeping promenades and a lively cultural scene — in a bid to knock out Ukraine’s maritime infrastructure and its ability to export agricultural products via the sea.
Inside the Chudo-Gorod apartment complex — which means “Wonder City” in Russian, the city’s historic language — the hum of generators fills the courtyard between three towering grey buildings.
They have become the soundtrack to daily life in the coastal city and across the country, as Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid cause frequent hours-long power outages.
“Everything is powered electrically, including the elevators, which in my case is a problem,” said Yuriy Stepanets, in his thirties, smiling from his wheelchair.
Several generators sit at the entrance to the buildings — a large one provided by the city and a few smaller ones bought by residents who can afford them. Earlier this month, a Russian drone attack sparked fires and blew out windows when it hit the complex.
One man was killed and two were wounded.
On a nearby road stand the burnt and mangled metal shells of what used to be two cars, now blackened and orange hunks of scrap after a Russian attack.
The windows of a shopping centre are blown out, covered in wooden boards.
The latest power cut is expected to take weeks — if not months — to repair, and residents are likely to be asked to cover the cost of the fuel for generators in the meantime.
Relatively spared at the start of the invasion in 2022, the scenic city is now being pummelled daily by Russian attacks. The strikes are hitting port infrastructure, cargo ships and have damaged historic monuments in the Unesco-listed city.
Several civilians have been killed in recent months, and tens of thousands regularly left without water or power.
Locals call it “the worst winter” of the four-year conflict.
“The war has reached Odesa,” sighed Nataliya Tiupina.
She fled to the city when Russian forces occupied her native Kherson in the south in 2022.
Ukraine recaptured Kherson later that year, but it remains under constant Russian fire. Tiupina, 66, and her 94-year-old mother say they can’t return.
A professional musician before the war, she now works as a concierge in one of the Wonder City buildings.
“That’s all in the past now,” she said, her voice breaking.
Since leaving Kherson, she has not even taken her viola out of its case.
Her days now revolve around planning when she can use electricity — to “do laundry, wash, recharge batteries.”
The generators are precious goods for the district’s residents, requiring constant maintenance to keep them ticking over.
“That’s my main task right now,” said Volodymyr Khokhlov, a 32-year-old AI programmer who walked up to one of the buzzing machines with a smile. — AFP