Our train stopped

10.10 Morning around 4 o´clock there was a hard bang on the door of our compartment. Evacuation! There were drones heading in our direction. Train stopped.

I was faster than expected down from my upper bunk. All of us were out and waited for the signal that danger was over. After a quarter of an hour we could return to the train and try to fall asleep again.

Back to train in the morning sun

Around eight o'clock the same thing happened again. Out of the train and into the nearby forest. There we stood in the beautiful rising sun for a good three quarters of an hour. Back on the train the stewardess served coffee and tea in elegant glasses placed in holders that looked like made of silver. At least to me, at that very moment, they felt like solid silver. Two and a half hours late we arrived in Odesa.

Perre welcomed by my wife Boel

Perre arrived from Kharkiv

In the reception of our hotel Palais Royal (not as luxurious as the name indicates), my old friend Perre (Per-Olof Karlson) was waiting. This man who has been living in Kharkiv since 2017 and spends his time distributing food to 300 poor people in his district, mostly pensioners. He is well-known in aid circles and worthy of all admiration. He loves joining my tours to get a chance to meet Swedes to have a good chat.

Misha our cityguide and now an old friend. Here at the Potemkin Steps leading down to the harbour. The hotel in the background was destroyed early in the3 war. It was ugly, people hated it. Nobody watnt´s it restored.

In the afternoon, Misha showed us the city and told us it´s exciting history. When I go to Ukraine, I collect used phones and computers. Not exactly allowed, but the purpose is good. This time I brought 12 kilos, which was probably the limit of what I could handle. So happy to hand over the heavy bag to Misha. He fixes them up and then hands them over to various military units. In addition, Jan-Åke brought 35 power banks.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/90c0b3_c3c1a4516e6d43b4b8aeea9a42834b47/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Sunday afternoon. I see groups of people performing. This group collected money for a certain army unit.

Today we had three air raid alarms. Yellow alarms, meaning that there were drones approaching. People in the street did not react. Nor did we. One get´s used. Red alarm means that missiles are coming. Then you should look for shelter.

In the evening half of the group went to the opera to see a ballet. Boel and the others were ecstatic. Champagne in the pause. Best I ever seen, Boel said.

We will destroy all of Odessa.

Everything, except the opera.

said a certain V. Solokov on Russian TV.

11.10 Except me, everybody went down underground into the catacombs. I sat in the hotel to do this blog. Some went swimming in the sea in late afternoon.

We decided to change our itinerary, not to go to the villages in deoccupied areas. Our friend in Mykolaiv strongly adviced aginst this. There are Russian drones scanning the area. When they find a valuable target a bigger drone will be called in to do the job. A bus full of people would be a nice target for the Russians. Yesterday they hit a bus in Kramatorsk killing 30 people.

Right now: Red danger alert! Goodnight.