Odesa has faced many challenges in recent years. However, the ongoing pandemic and the reduction of land available for construction have brought the issue of ineffective management back. It is linked to the lack of an adequate response from the authorities as well as corruption.

On Saturday morning, several dozen people picketed the construction of an alleged yacht club and residential complex being built on the sea coast in Odesa. The protests were led by Vitaliy Ustimenko, an activist from Odesa who is the leader of a grassroots organisation called the AutoMaidan. “We will not allow dumb and insolent oxen capture the sea coast of Odesa,” Ustimenko said as he was speaking into a microphone.

The decision of President Poroshenko to appoint the former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili as the governor of Odesa region in 2015 came as a surprise. He needed a pro-Ukrainian, pro-President outsider who could break a chain of corruptive connections in the region, but also a bright personality, a man of courage, who would not be afraid to initiate a radical change. It was an “all-in” decision – either a miracle would happen in Odesa or the situation would stay the same. Moreover, for Odesans it was a move to boost their local pride – a president becoming a governor of their region. The question of his foreign origin was the last thing Odesa cared about as, in its history, there have been many foreigners in charge.

Extract from a book titled Kill the Dragon. Ukrainian Revolutions (Czarne 2016, in Press). Originally in Polish, translated by the author.