Kyiv: Odessa, which has come under attack from Russians, is a port city of Ukraine on the Black Sea coast.
A missile attack on February 24 killed 18 people in the city. A day later, 13 Ukrainian servicemen defending a tiny island in the Black Sea near Odessa were killed after they refused to surrender to the Russians.
The place has a rich past.
The Tatar fortress of Khadzhibey was built at the site in the 14th century, which later passed to Lithuania-Poland and Turkey.
In 1789, the Russians stormed the fortress. A new fortress was built in 1792–93 and a naval base was constructed in 1794. In 1795, the port was named Odessa after the Greek ‘Odessos’.
During World War II, the city saw massive damage and destruction from German and Romanian forces.
Many places named Odessa
There are many places in the world named Odessa.
America has the highest number of places called Odessa, located in Delaware, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Oregon, Texas, Washington and West Virginia.
Brazil and Canada also have places named Odessa.
