Odesa postcard: Deadly beach attack underlines Putin's contempt for Ukraine's ethnic Russians

 ODESA – The killing of a 26-year-old woman sunbathing on a beach at this Black Sea port city during a Russian drone attack underlines Russian President Vladimir Putin’s contempt for his own people, given that as many as 29 percent of the population here are ethnic Russians and over half of inhabitants still speak Russian at home.    

 Local Odesa Telegram channels reported that the woman, Daria Kravchenko, from Kyiv, was struck by shrapnel Tuesday near Otrada Beach, with witnesses saying she was found unconscious and covered in injuries before emergency crews arrived. According to her boyfriend the couple took cover in a bar at the beach when there was an air raid alert but an explosion happened after the all clear was sounded and she was fatally wounded by a shrapnel wound in the neck. 

 The day before she died I visited the beach with the Lviv Insider’s intrepid reporter Mike La Pointe and plunged into the sea. New black concrete shelters have been built on the coast for civilians to take cover when drones or missiles are overhead, but the only hazard I encountered was slimy green algae in the water.

 We enjoyed a tranquil lunch of fried fish washed down with salty Ukrainian mineral water before heading back to our hotel on the clifftop promenade. Sirens wailed for an air raid alert as we strolled back to the city centre but few people seemed to take much notice.

 A longtime British resident in Odesa said that “unless daytime drone attacks become a daily occurrence (too easy for air defence to shoot down, as they did this time), I expect virtually all locals to treat this as a freak accident, though attributable to the enemy .”

 “I expect beach life to carry one just as before, with perhaps a couple of shelters more and somewhat less complacent behaviour but only over the next few days,” he said.

 Even the Briton, who acknowledges that one reason he stays in Odesa is the low tax rate for foreigners, says he goes to the beach about once a week in the summer months despite risk from flying shrapnel when a drone is intercepted.

 “Despite the devil may care attitude of locals toward air raid alarm safety protocols it goes without saying that the enemy is fully responsible for civilian deaths such as this one,” he added, speaking on condition he not be named.

Odesa and the surrounding region have remained frequent targets of Russian drone and missile strikes throughout the full-scale invasion.

Russian attacks primarily target port infrastructure, energy facilities, and civilian areas along Ukraine’s Black Sea coast.

In recent months, Russia has intensified the use of Shahed-type drones against Ukrainian cities, often launching overnight attacks aimed at overwhelming air defenses.

Ukrainian officials have warned that falling debris and shrapnel from intercepted drones pose a serious threat to civilians, particularly in densely populated urban areas and along Odesa’s coast.

 A Western diplomatic source said the Russian attacks on the beach area, a cheap and cheerful resort that provides some respite to families from kyiv and elsewhere, “serves no military objective and further unites Ukraine.”

 “The folks in Odesa are mainly ethnic Russians so they are bombing their own.”

 Police opened a criminal investigation into the death of Daria at Otrada Beach in Odesa on charges of official negligence, Inna Verba, press secretary for the Odesa Oblast Prosecutor’s Office, told Suspilne.

 According to her, the case was opened under Part 3 of Article 367 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine—official negligence resulting in the death of a person.

 Law enforcement officials will investigate the actions of Odesa City Council officials, as well as business representatives who organized the beach area’s operations.

 In addition, the Odesa Prosecutor’s Office is investigating war crimes that resulted in a death (Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The probe follows reports that the beach establishment where Daria was killed did not have official permission to open.