Air raid halts Odesa opera as history echoes Ukraine's present struggle

An air raid alert interrupted a performance of the opera The Zaporozhian Cossack Beyond the Danube at the Odesa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater. The production tells the story of the Cossacks’ search for a new home after being forced from their land by Russian Empress Catherine II in 1775. German volunteers from the aid group Ermstal Hilft were among the audience that evening. The opera first premiered in 1863 at St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theatre. It was later banned in the Russian Empire. The story centres on the Zaporozhian Cossacks, who were once symbols of Ukraine’s fight for independence. Their community was dissolved by Catherine II in 1775, forcing them to seek refuge across the Danube.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, the Mykolaiv Academic Art Theater once staged Russian and international classics entirely in Russian. The city of Mykolaiv, a major industrial hub, was briefly surrounded by Russian forces early in the war. During the occupation, its water supply was destroyed. On 22 September 2022, the theater itself was hit by an S-300 missile, causing extensive damage to the building and its contents. The performance in Odesa went ahead despite the air raid warning. The opera’s historical themes resonate strongly in present-day Ukraine. German attendees, including former Bundestag deputy Beate Müller-Gemmeke, witnessed the event firsthand.