The battle for Odessa. The fight for the Black Sea port could influence the outcome of the war and affect regional security experts say. Two weeks into Russia's war in Ukraine, Kiev's forces are preparing for a potential attack by Moscow's troops on the historic port city of Odessa on the Black Sea. It had 300 kilometers, 186 miles, west of the Russian and ex-Crimian peninsula. The city is seen as a strategic asset by both Ukraine and Russia, and its fall would have significant repercussions, not only for the two countries, but also for the wider Black Sea region. Experts warn Russian troops, advancing west of Crimea, have already taken the port city of Kursin and arrived at mycolave, just 120 kilometers, 75 miles east of Odessa. Russian Navy ships have been spotted close to Ukrainian territorial waters, raising fears of a possible attack from the sea. On Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodemyy Zelensky said the Russian army is planning a violent assault on the city, calling it an historical crime. Earlier last week, he dismissed the civilian governor of Odessa province, Serhi Hrnyetsky, and replaced him with Maxim Machenko, an army colonel and former leader of the controversial Ada Battalion, which has fought in the Donbas region in Ukraine's east since 2014. The Ukrainian military has already established defensive positions across Odessa, imposed a curfew and set up roadblocks at all entrances to the city of one million people. The ports have been closed to commercial shipping, while the evacuation of civilians has begun. A pivotal lifeline to overseas. Odessa is of strategic military and economic importance to Ukraine. After losing its naval base in Sevastopol following the annexation of Crimea in 2014, the Ukrainian Navy moved its headquarters there. Its three ports also play an important role in the economy of the country. Some 70% of all Ukrainian imports and exports are in the form of sea cargo, and Odessa handles about 65% of that. For Ukraine, Odessa represents a pivotal lifeline to overseas, Alexey Muriv, associate professor of national security and strategic studies at Cutting University, told Al-Jazirah. If Russia sees is Odessa, it will effectively cut off Ukraine from overseas trade and military aid. The loss of the port city could have significant ramifications for Ukraine and its war, ref at and give Russia a strategic advantage. Ukraine does not have any other large ports to rely on in case it loses its control of its third largest city, allowing Russia to effectively dominate the whole of the northern Black Sea coast. In the context of the Russia-Ukraine war, the battle for Odessa would play one of the key roles in determining the future political outcome of the current conflict, Muriv said. For Russia, the complete control of the Ukraine's Black Sea and the Sea of Azov coasts may be more important than the seizure of Karkiv or Western Ukraine combined. They want Odessa intact. Capturing Odessa would also have a particular symbolic significance, given the important status it holds in Russian culture and history. Founded in 1794 by Russian Empress Catherine the Great, Odessa became a crucial seaport and a cosmopolitan urban centre, home not only to Russians and Ukrainians, but also to Armenian, Bulgarian, Greek, Jewish and other communities. With its ornate architecture designed by Italian artists and rich cultural life, the city turned into one of the symbols of Russian imperial prestige and power. The local authorities have expressed hope that the port city's historical importance could spare it from the destructive aerial assaults other Ukrainian cities have experienced. They want Odessa intact, Odessa's infrastructure, architecture and strategic meaning. They want all of those undamaged. That's why I think Odessa will be subject to a special operation, Mayor Janadiy Troukenov told the US's public broadcasting service. The city is also home to a sizable ethnic Russian community, a factor that some Russian observers have claimed could help a military attempt to capture the city. In 2014, a separatist forces backed by Russia started armed rebellions in the Eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions against the central government in Kiev, Odessa also witnessed some violence. Ukrainian ultra-nationalist clashed with pro-Russia groups opposing pro-Western protests, which culminated in the deaths of more than 40 people. In his February 21 speech recognizing the independence and sovereignty of the Donetsk People's Republic, DPR and the Luhansk People's Republic, LPR, Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged to find those responsible for the violence in Odessa and hold them accountable. But according to Anton Barboshin, a political analyst and editorial director of Riddle Russia, the events eight years ago and the presence of ethnic Russians in the city are unlikely to help Russia advance in Odessa. In 2014, the Ukrainian stopped an attempt to make Odessa into Odessa People's Republic. There is clearly not a lot of pro-Russia sentiment, especially at this moment, he told Al-Jazirah. In his view, the current difficulties the Russian army is experiencing in advancing on a few fronts could also reflect on its ability to capture Odessa. The Russian forces have been overstretched and ensuring supply routes and reinforcements could be a challenge. We do see how tough it is for Russian forces to attempt to occupy territories that are much closer to Russia than Odessa, Barboshin said. Transnistria and regional security. The capture of Odessa could have negative consequences not only for Ukraine, but also for the security of its neighbors. Defense analysts have pointed out that controlling the city would enable the Russian forces to open a land corridor to the breakaway region of Transnistria, which has sought independence from Aldova since the 1990s. The region hosts some 1,500 Russian troops deployed as part of a peacekeeping force created following a 1992 ceasefire agreement between Chizenoir and Transnistrian separatists. So far, Russia has not recognized the self-proclaimed Pridnestrovian Moldavi in Republic, but there has been speculation that Moscow may seek to include it in a union state along with Belarus, the DPR and LPR, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The idea of getting all these lost Soviet territories back to Russia was endorsed by a number of foreign policy circles, said Barboshin. A move towards Transnistria would likely destabilize Moldova, which like Ukraine is not a NATO or a European Union member. On March 3rd, the Moldovan government filed a formal request for accession to the EU, fearing a spillover of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Further south, Bulgaria and Romania have also watched anxiously the events in Ukraine. According to Demitter Bicev, a visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe, the two countries have already felt threatened following the annexation of Crimea and Moscow's deployment of missile systems and expansion of its black sea fleet on the peninsula. The potential fall of Odessa would only strengthen Moscow's, and, he told Al-Jazirah. In practical terms, this would remove the territorial buffer between us, Bulgaria and Romania and Russia. In his view, this is likely to result in NATO beefing up its ground presence in Bulgaria and Romania. A heightened navy presence is unlikely given the limitations set in the Montrose Convention of 1936, which governs the use of the Bosporus and Dardanelles Straits. The document, which both Romania and Bulgaria are signatories to, restricts the passage of navy ships that do not belong to the black sea.