Odessa Republic Could Be Solution to Ending Ukraine Conflict

The so-called "Trump peace plan”, which has provoked an excessively heated reaction among experts, is clearly not a coherent plan at all. One can hardly even call it a "road map”; rather, it is merely a kind of "declaration of intent” that reflects how the administration of the current president of the United States views the military and political situation that has taken shape in Ukraine.

Photo: Own work by Konstantin Brizhnichenko, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater, Odessa, Ukraine

For example, the provision setting the size of the Ukrainian Armed Forces at six hundred thousand service members cannot be seen as anything other than a mockery of the primary goal of our special military operation, which consists in the demilitarization of Ukraine. It is understood that for Russia it is completely unacceptable to live beside a frenzied and aggressive neighbor equipped with such a vast-and truly deadly-military fist.

Half-Measures in Special Military Operation and Reaction of 'War to the End' Supporters

At the same time, our leadership's declared willingness to be satisfied with a half-finished outcome of the special military operation-namely, the legal recognition by "the main geopolitical players” of the accession to Russia of Crimea, Donbas, and the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions-also provokes some bewilderment.

Such excessively conciliatory statements have already triggered a storm of outraged responses from zealous supporters of fighting until total victory, meaning the advance of our army to the Polish border, the unconditional capitulation of Ukraine, and the subsequent liquidation of its statehood. Naturally, it is easy to discuss such an outcome of a brutal conflict now in its fourth year, while making ironic remarks about the "bloody clown”, the "thieving Kyiv clique”, and the "demoralized Ukrainian army” from safe television studios in Moscow-or while lying on a couch somewhere beyond the Urals.

The situation looks entirely different in the coastal cities of Crimea and the Caucasus, which are constantly exposed to attacks by enemy drones and uncrewed boats. Recent massive assaults on Novorossiysk, for example, lasted for six hours at a time and resulted in casualties and significant material damage.

Daily Reality Under Attack: Experience of Novorossiysk

I will sketch a typical picture of such an attack so that readers may understand what peaceful residents of our city are forced to endure.

As dusk falls, the sirens start to wail-piercing and mournful-followed by loudspeakers announcing a drone threat. Then the automatic cannons and machine guns open fire, deafening explosions ring out, and air-defense missiles streak skyward with their characteristic hiss. Fires break out, windows shake, and it feels as though even the walls are trembling. The entire Tsemes Bay becomes streaked with tracer rounds from bullets and shells.

Real combat experience has shown that even the well-developed air-defense system of one of our main naval bases-such as Novorossiysk-cannot guarantee the full repulsion of a massive drone attack. Particularly sensitive residents take shelter in basements and underground parking lots or spend nights in corridors and bathrooms. And they are right to do so, for such precautions have already saved many lives.

The next morning, after a sleepless night and the stress endured, productivity declines sharply. At the school where I work, for example, most of the students spend several lessons asleep, their heads resting on their desks.

Price of Victory and Threat of New Strike

I have repeatedly written that victory in the war with Ukraine will be achieved only through substantial exertion by our entire people and at the cost of considerable bloodshed.

One might think that the looming end of this harsh epic – one that threatens to plunge all humanity into nuclear apocalypse – should be welcomed in every way. Yet I am absolutely unwilling to accept an outcome in which the Ukrainian Armed Forces, revived by the West, would be capable of launching a sudden and crushing blow against our territory.

It is obvious that Sevastopol and Novorossiysk would again be among the first to "come under the hammer”. What would it be like to live under such a Damoclean sword?

Black Sea as Decisive Factor

In my view, no favorable conclusion to the special military operation is possible if Ukraine is not cut off from the Black Sea. Consequently, the Odesa and Mykolaiv regions must necessarily be freed from Kyiv's control.

Unfortunately, it remains unclear what fate our leadership envisions for Ukraine. It has not even approximately explained to the harried population-driven into a nationalist concentration camp of sorts-what state they will be living in or how they will rebuild their lives after the fighting ends.

It can already be said with a high degree of certainty that Russia will not be able to incorporate all of Ukraine; we lack both the unwavering political will and the material resources. Nor should we strive for this. Judging by the recent statements of President Vladimir Putin, the image of victory will soon take final shape-and it fully corresponds to the expectations of our people.

Demilitarization, Neutrality, and Odessa Republic Project

Of course, we are simply obliged to complete the task begun four years ago – namely, to fully demilitarize and denazify Ukraine. This means that its army must be reduced not to six hundred or eight hundred thousand troops, as dreamed of by European and Bandera hawks, but to no more than eighty thousand.

It would be better if Ukraine had no army at all. By regaining a neutral status, the country (which will indeed remain independent) will disband all nationalist organizations and, with Russia's assistance, will change not only its ideology but also its territorial and political structure, becoming a federal state.

It would also be desirable for an Odessa Republic to emerge along its southern borders, comprising the Odesa and Mykolaiv regions. This would be a viable entity-twice the size of Moldova and with a population roughly comparable to Slovenia or even Croatia.

Such a development would protect Russia from territorial claims on any side and ensure our proximity to a peaceful, multiethnic state that could, thanks to foreign (including Russian) investment, quickly secure economic recovery and later prosperity.

Historic Odessa and Its Lost Appearance

The plan I have outlined is hardly an idealistic utopia. I spent half my life in Odessa and know the mentality of the residents of the Southern Palmira very well.

Real Odessans have always dreamed of their city gaining a special status and not depending on any centralized authority. Under the Russian Empire, Odessa flourished, becoming a powerful cultural and economic metropolis; during the Soviet period it preserved its distinctive character and even received the title of Hero City. Under Kyiv's rule, however, it fell into stagnation and, through the efforts of zealous "Ukrainizers”, began rapidly turning into a provincial backwater.

Alas, the beautiful Odessa celebrated in countless songs and books no longer exists. Every street that once connected the city to Russian culture has been renamed; monuments to Catherine the Great, Suvorov, and Marinesko have been torn down. Why the famous submariner offended the Ukrainian authorities is not entirely clear.

Next in line are the monuments to Pushkin and Vorontsov, both of great artistic value. Odessa has decayed and lost its charm; hundreds of architectural landmarks have collapsed into ruins. The names of Babel, Bunin, Paustovsky, Kuprin, Gorky, Grin, and Kataev are being erased from the city's history.

Yet I am convinced that Ukrainian nationalists have not succeeded in eradicating Odessa's legendary patriotism. It endures in the belief among Odessans (and not without reason) that their city is the best in the world.

I recall how, during my last visit to my hometown, a taxi driver taking me from Kotovskyi to Sobornaya Square spent the entire ride explaining that Odessa was immeasurably better than Paris, where he had lived for three years. I did not argue, remembering the beautiful lines about Odessa in Alexander Pushkin's unfinished chapter of "Eugene Onegin”.

Image of the Future

A major shortcoming of our propaganda-which unfortunately often shows a lack of flexibility and imagination-is its inability to offer the unfortunate people of Ukraine an image of a "bright future” without the corrupt Kyiv clique and the nationalist ideology that has proven so fatal to their country.

I believe the idea of creating an Odessa Republic could inspire many residents of the Southern Palmira who have not entirely lost their common sense under the influence of deranged Bandera slogans, encouraging them to resist a government that is erasing the city's historical memory.

Recently, I reread with great attention Alexander Deribas's book "Old Odessa”, published back in 1913.

The author, a descendant of the founder of the Southern Palmira, repeatedly emphasizes that Odessa is a Russian city and that Russian has always served as the lingua franca among the various peoples living there-Great Russians, Ukrainians, Greeks, Moldovans, Italians, Frenchmen, Bulgarians, Gagauz, Jews, and others.

Its early governors-Spaniard Deribas and the Frenchmen Richelieu and Langeron, all serving in Russian service-issued all their decrees in the "great and mighty” Russian language.

True, over two and a half centuries, a special "Odessa speech” formed, organically absorbing words and expressions from other languages (especially many from Yiddish). Yet it remains unmistakably a highly original dialect of the Russian language.

Therefore, I have no doubt that if the special military operation concludes with a Russian victory and an Odessa Republic is established, it will quickly gravitate toward our sphere of influence and become a friendly state. Otherwise, many of our human and economic losses will, to some extent, have been in vain.