site.btaBulgarians in Odessa: Anxiety Grows as Explosions Jolt People out of Sleep

Explosions lit up the sky over the Black Sea port of Odessa between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. on Tuesday as the southwestern part of Ukraine came under a second strong attack after a July 11 offensive with over 20 drones.

Natalia Dimitrova-Shkarupa, a Bulgarian resident in Odessa, told BTA: "We were jolted out of sleep by the sound of sirens, the loud rumble of flying drones and the boom of explosions. I barely calmed my nine-year-old daughter, who kept saying: 'Mom, what should we do?' My husband is a truck driver and is usually away from home. Missile attacks are so scary. You don't know what to do, where to hide. You just pray to stay alive and well."

It was also a sleepless night for the ethnic Bulgarian Malenkov family, who said that the sound of sirens and drones woke them up at about 2 a.m. "A few drones flew right over our building. We live on the top floor, there was no way we could go downstairs. As the drones hovered, we prayed they would not be blown up over the residential buildings," Marina Malenkova said.

Two other local Bulgarian families, Kashchy and Vichev, said there was a strong blast at about 4 a.m. They could not sleep, it was terrible. They grew very anxious. The first time they were really scared was during the initial drone attack in the area on July 11, when the drones came right over their houses and hovered for a long time until the Ukrainian air defence forces destroyed them.

In Chornomorsk, near Odessa, Varvara Stafidova heard loud explosions too. "We are worried," the Bulgarian said. "We hope that peace will come soon. Many Bulgarians live in Chornomorsk, we have a Bulgarian association here. Before the war, we organized events and functions related to Bulgarian tradition and important dates. Sadly, many young couples with little children moved abroad. Quite a few of them are now in Bulgaria." Varvara chairs the local Bulgarian association.

On the night of July 17 to 18, the Odessa area came under attack by six Kalibr cruise missiles and 21 drones, which were destroyed by the Ukrainian air defence forces. Missile fragments and the blast wave damaged port infrastructure elements and a few private homes, Odessa City Hall wrote on its website.