Old Enmities, New Conflicts

Most of those who died in Odessa were pro-Russian militants; burned or suffocated when the building they barricaded themselves in was torched by their counterpart pro-Kyiv supporters. The 46 who died were involved in a brawl, then sought shelter from the anger of those as determined as they were to disallow them to continue inviting Moscow to invade and annex their city. In an attempt to quell the outrage over the deaths, Odessa police surrendered to demands for the release of the 150 or so pro-Russians who escaped the blaze and were placed under police custody.

A growing crowd, including older people and women along with masked young men was becoming increasingly agitated. And then the young men among them spearheaded an assault on the building chanting "Let them out!", "Fascists!", "Russia!", and "Freedom!". They ripped two security cameras from their sockets, and a handful of the men with clubs smashed windows, forcing a side door open, and raised the security gate guarding the secure courtyard of the police station.

Police stood back. And just as the mob appeared prepared to launch a full-scale storming and occupation so often rehearsed before in police stations in towns of the east of the country, the police chief announced he was prepared to release the prisoners who, on their release were greeted as homecoming heroes. The police chief also permitted the pro-Russian crowd to enter the torched-out union building. In the attic, untouched by fire, a Molotov cocktail 'factory' appeared intact.

People gather in front of Ukrainian Interior Ministry security forces members who form a cordon during a rally outside a city police department in the Black Sea port of Odessa, May 4, 2014.

Credit: Reuters/Gleb Garanich

Separatists occupy yet a few key buildings in Donetsk; a limited victory that does not stop them from behaving as though the entire city is theirs. People across Ukraine's eastern region live in trepidation that the chaos may become more violent yet. And that fear now encompasses the southern port city of Odessa which has now seen its own share of violence. Fears have arisen that one morning they may all wake to discover Russian "peacekeepers" installed in their areas.

The Odessa violence could become a turning point. Not only for the enhanced possibility of Russia deciding to invade to protect their vulnerable "Russian brothers" in Ukrainian territory, but also with the very real prospect that enmities that have latterly taken the place of the former goodwill and tolerance between ethnic Russians and those of Ukrainian descent will transform the two into violent enemies.

Religious-based differences can be seen hardening, with the Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox churches taking up positions on opposite sides of a growing chasm. Up until the present the majority of Ukrainians have remained uninvolved, the bleakly corrosive hostilities giving way to violence transfixing them with horror at what their societies have surrendered to.

They watch the transmission of both Ukrainian and Russian television, with their alternating views of what is occurring and their interpretation based on each view of the other as visceral enemies; the Russians seeing the Ukrainians as 'Nazis', the Ukrainians viewing the Russians as 'fascists', as hatred deepens and metastasizes.