Odesa authorities rule out capture of the city by Russia
Russia has no chance of capturing Odesa, Serhiy Bratchuk said (Photo:Alexandros Avramidis / REUTERS)
Russia stands no chance of capturing Odesa, Serhiy Bratchuk, a spokesperson for the regional governor, said at a briefing on Sept. 28.
The statement came in response to a Bloomberg report, which said that after mobilization, Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin wants to send his army to capture Odesa and Kharkiv.
Bratchuk noted that Odesa is a strategically important city – in fact, the "sea gate of the state".
He also stressed that Odesa’s defense system is improving by the day.
"It has been built since February 24 so that no enemy could penetrate here either by land or by sea,” the official said.
“Today, when we are talking about a sea landing operation, this risk remains, because there is the Russian Black Sea Fleet. But now there are no preparations for this very expensive operation. In addition, it must be provided from land or from the air. On land, the enemy is not advancing, on the contrary, our Armed Forces are advancing on the southern axis, albeit slowly.”
Moscow is convinced that after the announced mobilization, Russia will be able to regain the initiative on the battlefield, move deeper into Ukraine, and capture several major cities, including Kharkiv and Odesa. Military experts generally doubt the viability of these plans, due to Russia’s logistical and command deficiencies.
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