Odessa braces for Russian assault as humanitarian conditions deteriorate

[Celerity]

Humanitarian conditions further deteriorate under Moscow’s increased shelling

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/07/russia-ukraine-war-news-putin-live-updates/



The southern Ukrainian city of Odessa was on Monday bracing for a Russian assault as humanitarian conditions across the country continued to deteriorate under Moscow’s increased shelling of civilian areas.

The mayor of the strategically important port city told The Washington Post that “the aggressor is not far from Odessa,” with the Kremlin’s forces having already captured the city of Kherson to the east and eight Russian warships looming just outside Ukraine’s territorial waters.

Concern mounted as the third round of talks between the two sides ended without a breakthrough. Ukrainian officials said Russia pressed them to give up Crimea and territory in eastern Ukraine as a condition for halting the invasion. However, Ukrainian negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak said they made some progress on organizing local cease-fires and evacuation corridors for women, children and other civilians, who have increasingly come under attack with Russia stepping up indiscriminate shelling.

[fwvinson]

1. Odessa Steps

[Celerity]

3. Battleship Potemkin (1925) movie

The 1925 silent film sequence that’s influenced every movie since

https://qz.com/quartzy/1185479/sergei-eisenstein-google-honors-the-director-of-battleship-potemkin-and-its-influential-odessa-steps-montage/

You’ve seen the Odessa Steps even if you’ve never actually seen the Odessa Steps.

The horrifying, groundbreaking film sequence is among the most famous scenes crafted by Soviet filmmaking pioneer Sergei Eisenstein, who was honored with his own Google Doodle today (Jan. 22) on what would have been his 120th birthday. The fourth act in Eisenstein’s five-act 1925 silent masterpiece Battleship Potemkin, the Odessa Steps has inspired countless movie scenes in the decades since and stands as a stunning example of the director’s ingenuity.

[BeckyDem]

2. Russia's Navy is salivating over the idea of Odessa.

Terrible.

[PlanetBev]

4. Shit, my grandfather was from Odessa

I would have liked to have seen it before the Russians fuck it up.

My other grandparents were from around Kiev. I hate watching this madness.