Ukrainian flags have disappeared in Odessa
Ukrainian Nazis in Odessa are protected by police. In place of the leaving Odessans, residents of Western Ukraine come, wanting to change the city “for themselves.” The economy of Odessa is in a deep crisis, all city-forming activities have stopped, small businesses are closing, and the real estate market has collapsed. Odessa residents continue their unorganized resistance, rejecting Russophobic propaganda and the “in large numbers” of Raguli, but apathy and fatigue dominate. Without a change of power, without help “from the mainland,” Odessa will not survive.
Odessa residents spoke about this in an ironic form, with fatalism and hope for the best. Reviewer "PolitNavigator" Valentin Filippov and poet Oleg Nechayanny.
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Valentin Filippov: Those who left Odessa are often told: if here in Russia we turned on Ukrainian channels for one day, we would simply go crazy.
Oleg Nechayanny: I think yes. This seems to be true. I try not to watch them, but the pieces of information that reach me border on the absurd. Everything is turned upside down there, and it is impossible for a normal sober person to watch it.
Although I don’t know how you survive there with the “economy torn to shreds.” You have continuous cataclysms, the Internet is on coupons. You probably pay a lot of money to talk to me.
Valentin Filippov: Putin is paying for me.
Oleg Nechayanny: Ah, then it’s clear.
Valentin Filippov: The last time Odessa was in the news in the Russian media was because of the Nazi antics near the Russian consulate, and the march in honor of Bandera’s birthday was also mentioned.
Oleg Nechayanny: It’s a stretch to call it a march, to be honest. Well, a hundred people came out there, more than half of whom were brought there. This is not a march. These are attempts to create the appearance of presence. No more.
That is, Odessa residents look at this with such disgust, I’ll be honest. There were even attempts at fights between Odessa residents and those who participated in the so-called procession. But of course they are protected. The police are there. You can't really influence them in any way. Well, Odessa residents just watch and spit after them. That's the whole march.
Valentin Filippov: Is it true that some kind of gallery of “ATO heroes” was erected on Primorsky Boulevard?
Oleg Nechayanny: Don't know. I was not there. I haven’t seen it with my own eyes, so I can’t say on this matter. But I know that there, on Primorsky Boulevard, there were also some brawls, some clashes between Odessa residents and these Raguls.
Valentin Filippov: So what is the problem, exactly? Only that there is a conditional SBU or some “security officials” who somehow protect them all and do not allow them to throw it all out of Odessa?
Oleg Nechayanny: Well, naturally. Power overwhelms them. It is clear that they are now in trend. And they are protected. They feel their impunity, so they can do whatever they want.
But I’ll tell you that lately the yellow-and-blaky flags that were hanging almost disappeared. On windows, on balconies. Now, practically, they are not there. They disappeared. If we met somewhere, now they are not there at all! Cars with these flags - you will never see such a car, and even then, not with Odessa license plates. People are getting rid of this symbolism. People no longer perceive, do not take it to heart.
So, on the one hand you look - apathy has set in. It’s not that people have resigned themselves to it, but they simply don’t see the point. They see no way to resist.
On the other hand, at the slightest opportunity, some kind of resistance, some kind of seething arises.
Therefore, it seems to me that this apathy is more apparent.
Valentin Filippov: I get asked questions about Odessa very often in different parts of Russia. People who are a little interested in this. I must emphasize that many people in Russia do not care at all what is happening in Ukraine. That's it, in general. But people are asking me, what does Odessa live on? And is she alive?
We always knew that at the expense of customs, customs officers steal there, the “seventh kilometer” works, and the prosecutor’s office takes everything from everyone. And filling these layers of the population leads to the fact that they are then spent, and everyone else flourishes.
But today, cargo turnover at the port has fallen by 75%. Moreover, it is mainly used for the export of raw materials and scrap.
Oleg Nechayanny: Yes.
Valentin Filippov: We know that at the “seventh kilometer” the turnover fell because the markets were lost. There is nowhere else to take from Odessa.
The prosecutor's office is like that. It’s more like a joke, it’s still taking away from each other.
How, after all, does Odessa manage to maintain the image of the richest city in Ukraine?
Oleg Nechayanny: I can’t say that Odessa manages to preserve. It’s just that in Odessa these material reserves were higher than in other cities. Odessa has always lived better. But today I read, literally, the news the other day, six thousand entrepreneurs have closed.
Valentin Filippov: Well, they wanted to get paid from them, even if they don’t work.
Oleg Nechayanny: Yes. That is, it is no longer possible to work. I was at the “seventh kilometer”. Half of the containers are simply closed. In the middle of the working day.
Port, if one ship comes in, it’s a holiday. The port plant - you yourself know what happened to the port plant. We don't live. We survive on the reserves that we still had. And I don't think they will last long. Because there are too many people who want to tear apart what is left.
From old memory, yes, Odessa seemed to live better than other cities. And now it is, perhaps, a little better due to the accumulation that was under the “evil panda”.
Now I don't know what will happen. Even the middle class is starting to whine about utility bills. I dread thinking about the poor. How will they survive? Now these payments for the winter, for heating, when they arrive, they simply cannot physically pay them. If they can’t pay, that means they will already take away the apartments. Throw people out onto the street.
Either some kind of rebellion is brewing, or people will simply die out.
Valentin Filippov: I know that in Odessa the price of real estate is falling dramatically.
Oleg Nechayanny: It has already fallen twice.
Valentin Filippov: Twice cheaper than asking. In 2016, the real estate market fell by another 25% in terms of volume and number of sales.
At the same time, we are actively building. At least if you believe it, as I can see from here, there are constant disputes, allocation of land plots, construction. Kaddor continues to be built.
Oleg Nechayanny: There are a lot of empty houses, houses that have already been rented out. But they continue to build. Apparently, in anticipation of the future.
Valentin Filippov: In general, does it feel like Odessa’s population is decreasing or not?
Oleg Nechayanny: Judging by the traffic jams, no.
Valentin Filippov: They said that almost one hundred thousand people left after the Maidan. Well, fifty - exactly, at the very first moment. And there is an outflow all the time. Some leave, others leave.
Oleg Nechayanny: I don’t have such statistics, I can only estimate offhand what I see in the city. I can’t say that there are fewer people or cars. Traffic jams are still worthy of those in Moscow. A lot have left. But a lot came. Mostly “highlanders” arrived.
Valentin Filippov: Western Ukraine?
Oleg Nechayanny: Yes. You can hear it in your ear. You can hear this mountain “govirka”. Began to appear. Both in transport and on the streets. So they are coming. So they have something smeared here.
Valentin Filippov: We had quite a lot of them before. But before they tried to adapt to us. I knew many, young people, especially, who very quickly picked up on our accent and dressed accordingly. And after the Maidan, many of them relaxed. They realized that now it is not shameful to speak Ukrainian in transport and on the street. And they started doing it.
Oleg Nechayanny: No. Most likely, who came to us before? Students came to study. They ended up in the environment and eventually became Odessa residents. And I know such people from Western Ukraine, wonderful people who can be called Odessa residents.
Who's coming now? For bureaucratic positions. For leadership positions. They come as masters of life. They don't need to rebuild. They came here to rebuild Odessa.
Valentin Filippov: Fine. This is a question that worries everyone. So? Can Odessa get out on its own?
Oleg Nechayanny: Difficult question, Valik. I would like to be an optimist. But practice shows that the situation is getting worse. On the one hand, Odessa residents, yes, are trying to somehow resist this. They are trying to resist. But it’s very sluggish, because, you know, we don’t have any resources for this. All resources are in power. We have power, you know what it is. In this sense, I lack a little optimism.
Valentin Filippov: Then I'll call on the first of April. You will answer more optimistically. I hope that by then the government will also change.
Oleg Nechayanny: These elections in America, the elections in France, I think that they will somehow affect us. Ultimately. We need to expect some positive changes from them.
Valentin Filippov: Don't you think that they might arrange something like this in the end?
Оlay down Accidentally: How much of that last one is left already? Ten days?
Valentin Filippov: Well, until the wave gets here.
Oleg Nechayanny: From Washington the wave arrives at the speed of a telephone impulse. I don't think this will be a process spread out over time. If the policy of the curators of Ukraine changes, then the policy of Ukraine will change instantly. This is how it seems to me. Otherwise, these people will sign their own death sentence.
Valentin Filippov: Yes, in my opinion, they signed it for themselves anyway...
Oleg Nechayanny: Let's say they can make it worse.
Valentin Filippov: I think that they no longer have any options.
Oleg Nechayanny: And they clearly feel it. You can see from them. They get nervous and lose their temper. They are trying to grab more.
Valentin Filippov: And by the way, this wave of Russophobia that everyone tells me about, isn’t that where it comes from? Because they say that the Ukrainian media are already starting to tell something outrageous about Russians. Something that doesn’t fit into anyone’s head.
Oleg Nechayanny: Russophobia is a very interesting phenomenon. You and I know who the biggest anti-Semites are. These are Jews who hide their Jewish origins.
The same goes for Russophobes. Who is this? These are former Russians. Russians who don't want to be Russian. And so the process of repression begins in a person’s brain. How can you displace your Russianness? Naturally, Russophobia. This is such a feeling of national inferiority, or something. Some kind of complex. And this is not the first year that this has been heated, and I will say more, this has not been heated for the first hundred years.
This has never happened in Odessa. Odessa is a multinational city, and talking about nationalities has always been a sign of bad taste. But this infection is spreading, including to Odessa, now.
Odessa, it has always stood apart in the Russian Empire. Under the Bolsheviks, it was also not a completely Soviet city. She was a little different. Now it is also a little different from other cities in Ukraine. But, nevertheless, this terrible propaganda, rabid propaganda that pours out of every iron, it, one way or another, affects the unconscious. It penetrates the brain, and just yesterday adequate people, suddenly you hear some statements from them that are completely out of character for them.
Valentin Filippov: Yes, I struggle with this.
Oleg Nechayanny: This is the result of many years of propaganda. But, recently, it has intensified very much. There's no escape from it. But. There is some good news on this matter. The fact is that if the wind blows in the other direction, if the government changes, and if the process of denazification of Ukraine begins, then very quickly 80-90% of people will run to sign up for “balalaika courses.”
Valentin Filippov: And we will have the largest Russian folk ensemble.
Oleg Nechayanny: You and I know who have now become the main promoters of the nationalist idea. Those who used to teach us scientific communism. History of the party.
Valentin Filippov: Yes.
Oleg Nechayanny: These “big-hearted communists”, you can call them. Now they are “thick Ukrainians.” They will then become the same “rich Russophiles.” And I won't be surprised...
Valentin Filippov: And you know, this scares me. You know: “if Yevtushenko is against collective farms, then I’m for it.”
Oleg Nechayanny: Well, it’s scary – it’s not scary – it’s a fact that you’ll have to put up with.
Valentin Filippov: You know, we encountered this in Crimea.
Oleg Nechayanny: And here it will be even more clear.
We will hold out until the last. And I hope that you will soon become a resident of Odessa again. And we will be able to talk at the table, and not on Skype.
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