Odessa: The moments of terror for the Greek mission after the Russian “strike”

An alarm was sounded this morning in Odessa, after a rocket attack that occurred near the motorcade of Volodymyr Zelensky, just a few minutes before the meeting with the Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

During his joint statements with the Ukrainian Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis referred to the attack saying that “when we heard some sirens and shortly after when we were going to our cars we heard a big explosion. For us it is the best reminder that there is a real war going on here. Every day. Which does not only affect the front, the soldiers, it affects our innocent fellow citizens”.

His envoy SKAI in Bucharest, Yannis Kantelis relayed to the central news bulletin how the Greek mission experienced the incident. As he said, at the time Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ visit to the port of Odessa had ended, sirens were heard and then they heard the crash while seeing smoke and fires from afar. A huge commotion was created and everyone ran to their cars. The motorcade then changed its route so that they could quickly be taken to the next point where the prime minister would be taken. However, the incident did not stop the prime minister from continuing his itinerary as usual and he visited every point on his schedule.

Late in the afternoon, Kyriakos Mitsotakis left by road for Chisinau and then arrived by plane in Bucharest where he will attend the plenary session of the EPP.

“The war is happening here too, not only at the front”

“There is a real war going on here. Every day. Which does not only affect the front, the soldiers, it affects our innocent fellow citizens” said Kyriakos Mitsotakis during his joint statements with the Ukrainian president and expressed his disgust at the Russian actions.

“We have expressed our disgust at Russia’s actions against your country many times, but we will never cease to be saddened by this level of violence and brutality, which leads to the death of civilians, small children, and even infants. We toured here today. in Odessa, we visited the site of the Russian attack and I was clearly impressed on the one hand by the image of the destruction you have suffered but on the other hand by the image of the resilience and bravery of the Ukrainian people.”

The background to Mitsotakis’ visit to Odessa

Kyriakos Mitsotakis had long expressed the desire to visit Odessa, in order to to send a message of support to Ukraine, as well as a message to the Greek element of Ukraine, given that it is one of the most important centers of Greek education in the Diaspora and the headquarters of the Philiki Etairia, a symbol of historical and cultural ties, state government sources.

At first visited the port of the city, where he was received by the Ukrainian President, and informed about the operation of the grain export corridor through the Black Sea and the Danube. He then went to the administration building of the port of Odessa, where he had a one-on-one meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky. This was followed by a meeting with the participation of the delegations of the two countries.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis pointed out Greece’s willingness to assist in the reconstruction of Ukraine, with an emphasis on Odessa, a city of particular historical and cultural importance for our country. Other areas of cooperation were also discussed, such as in the energy sector, where Greece plays an important role in the operation of Europe’s southern supply corridor and is developing the vertical connecting corridor to better meet the needs of the Balkans and Eastern Europe.

The two leaders immediately went to the residential complex that was hit a few days ago resulting in the death of 12 civilians, including five children, where they laid bouquets at the memorial in honor of the victims.

The Prime Minister then visited the museum of Filiki Etairia, which is housed in the old residence of the national benefactor Grigorio Maraslis, and laid a wreath at the monument that has been erected in the courtyard of the museum in honor of the three founders of Filiki Etairia, Nikolaos Skoufas, Athanasios Tsakalov and Emmanuel Xanthos.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis even had the opportunity to talk with Greeks of the Diaspora and expatriates who gathered to welcome him at the museum.

“I wanted to come to Odessa especially – we succeeded and found a way to coordinate our programs with President Zelenskyy – so that you know that we are close to you, we support Ukraine, but we also support you in the struggle you are doing to keep your Greek languages ​​alive roots.

I am very moved by the opportunity you are giving me to meet you and I think we are all shocked by the tragedy especially of the Hellenism of Mariupol. We want to do everything in our power to put these very difficult times behind us and look to the future with more optimism.

But I really thank you for taking the trouble to come here today and I really wish you the best,” the Prime Minister stressed.

“All of Europe supports Ukraine’s struggle for freedom and independence. And of course Greece cannot be absent from this effort”, added Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

The visit was organized under conditions of utmost secrecy for security reasons. It was agreed upon in the last telephone conversation the Prime Minister had with the President of Ukraine at the end of January. A suitable date was then sought through diplomatic channels, the same sources continue, and arrived at today’s date.