Staring at the towering blue and yellow cranes on the Black Sea horizon, Viktor Berestenko worries about Russia’s relentless bombing of the southern Ukrainian port city of Odessa.
“Every night is a war,” the head of logistics company Inter Trans told AFP.
Odessa is the main gateway to the Black Sea and beyond, and an important logistics hub for Ukraine, one of the world’s largest agricultural exporters.
Russia has stepped up attacks in the region – tripling the number of missile and drone strikes last year – as officials say it seeks to cut off Ukraine from the sea.
“Without ports, Ukraine will be destroyed,” Berestenko said.
The escalation comes four years after Russia invaded and Ukraine’s maritime infrastructure has been targeted by Moscow.
The attacks are part of daily life in this city of about 1 million, which is dotted with ornate 19th-century buildings and where luxury cars drive past mobile air defense units along the bustling waterfront.
Russian forces have captured much of Ukraine’s southern coast, including the major eastern port cities of Mariupol and Berdyansk.
In 2023, Moscow abandoned a deal brokered by the United Nations and Türkiye that had facilitated the safe passage of Ukrainian agricultural exports across the Black Sea.
In response, Kiev established an alternative route that would take ships from Odessa along the western coastline, along Romania, Bulgaria, and through the Bosporus into the Mediterranean.
Ukraine calls it a success, transporting more than 170 million tons of cargo, including grain, via the route to some 55 countries, mostly in Africa.
These sales provide an important source of revenue for an economy devastated by the Russian invasion.
But the surge in strikes is taking a toll.
Mykola Kravchuk, director of the state-run Ukrainian Seaports Authority in the city, said throughput fell 15% last year and some 57 ships and 336 pieces of port equipment were damaged.
Kravchuk told AFP that Odessa received more than 800 air raid warnings in 2025, “which is equivalent to the loss of more than a month of operational time throughout the year.”
The vast majority of Ukraine’s grain exports pass through Odessa.
-Two minute warning-
A ballistic missile launched from Crimea (which Russia annexed in 2014) could hit Odessa in two minutes.
Berestenko said it took about 45 seconds for the crane operator to climb down, let alone reach the shelter.
He scrolled through photos on his phone of burned trucks and strike-damaged warehouses.
“In a nutshell, it’s terrible,” said Irina, who works at the port’s container terminal.
“When the alarm goes off, we fall down… We trust in God,” the 41-year-old said.
“Sometimes the sirens would go on for three hours and we would just sit there.”
Several strikes resulted in the death of port employees or crew members.
In December, a ballistic missile attack killed eight people.
Strikes also cause environmental damage. Last year, an attack at the nearby port of Pifdenny hit a sunflower oil storage tank, contaminating the Black Sea coast.
Ecologist Vladislav Belinsky said thousands of birds and seahorses died.
Ukraine classifies its ports as strategically important infrastructure, restricting access to them.
Kravchuk said the port industry’s two top priorities are protecting people, “especially our employees” and ensuring ports remain open.
After Friday night’s attack, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba reiterated that the maritime corridor remained operational despite another massive attack on Ukrainian port facilities.
But the surge in attacks has many in the industry and the city nervous.
“What steps will be taken next?” Logistics Director Berestenko asked.
“Occupy Odessa? Cut off Ukraine from the sea?”
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