Odesa << oh DEHS uh >> (pop. 1,017,022) is a seaport city in Ukraine. It lies on the southwestern coast, near the Romanian border. Odesa is on the Black Sea, 32 miles (51 kilometers) southwest of the mouth of the Dnieper River. The city’s name is also spelled Odessa.
Odesa is one of Ukraine’s industrial centers. Its refineries produce large amounts of petroleum products. Factories make tools, textiles, and food products. Odesa is an important transfer point for rail and ocean transportation. The city is also known for its health resorts.
Odesa is built in a circular shape and slopes down toward the city’s harbor. A long, spectacular stairway leads up from the harbor. The stairway is called the Potemkin Steps in memory of the crew of the ship Potemkin, who mutinied in Odesa during the Russian Revolution of 1905.
Historians are not sure when the first settlement was established on the site where Odesa now stands. The area was conquered by the Tatars in the 1200’s, followed by the Lithuanians in the 1300’s and the Ottomans in the 1500’s. Russia gained control of the site in 1792 and built a port and a fortress there. In 1795, Russia named the city Odesa. In 1944, the city became part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union had been formed under Russia’s leadership in 1922. In 1991, following an upheaval in the Soviet Union, the Ukrainian republic declared itself an independent nation. In December of that year, the Soviet Union was dissolved.
In February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, starting an open war between Ukraine and Russia. Ukrainian forces prevented Russian land troops from reaching Odesa, but Russian ships in the Black Sea blockaded the port. The blockade kept other ships from using the port to deliver humanitarian aid and military supplies to Ukraine. It also blocked the shipping of millions of tons of grain and other agricultural products that Ukraine normally exported to other countries each year. In July 2022, the United Nations and Turkey helped arrange an agreement to allow some grain shipments from a few Ukrainian ports, including Odesa. During the war, Russia also launched missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities. Odesa was struck many times in these attacks. In July 2023, the grain deal expired, and Russia refused to renew it. More Russian attacks on Odesa followed.
