Olga Jarova points to a nice spot on the restaurant terrace where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy sat on his visits to Odessa, Ukraine’s Black Sea port now under de facto Russian blockade.
Before the invasion, Datcha, the restaurant that Jarova manages in a stately 19th-century home, mirrored the atmosphere in this historic city of sailors founded by Catherine the Great: nostalgic and carefree.
Odessa has so far escaped capture, but Russia has said that any ship venturing into its surrounding waters can expect to be met by its cannons.
Photo: AFP
Kyiv mined the harbor as a preventive measure after the invasion began.
The city, a multicultural crossroads of 1 million inhabitants, has found itself isolated, forced to turn away from the sea and become more inward looking.
“Turbot, red mullet, goby ... 80 percent of our fish used to come from the Black Sea, but now offshore fishing is banned,” Jarova said.
In the morning, volunteers get busy cooking to feed people in need in Ukraine for free, but as they can no longer get fresh fish from the Black Sea, they have to cook fish imported from Asia.
As they only ever cooked locally caught fish before, they have had to learn how to prepare this new “catch,” 47-year-old Jarova said.
“With the catch from Asia, we didn’t know how to season it at the beginning,” she said with a smile.
An air-raid siren goes off, a harsh reminder that Odessa is living somewhat on borrowed time.
About 130km to the east, the city of Mykolaiv has been holding the defense of southern Ukraine.
Mykolaiv has been regularly targeted by Russian forces since the start of their invasion on Feb. 24 but the Ukrainians have prevented them taking all the coast — despite near daily bombings.
Russian-speaking Odessa, known as the pearl of the Black Sea, situated near Moldova and NATO member Romania, is a key economic hub.
It knows only too well that it is coveted by Russian President Vladimir Putin for historic as much as for strategic reasons.
Residents are proud of their renowned city, with its pleasant climate, rich cultural life and its French and Italian-influenced architecture, but its seabound activities are now off-limits.
“Every day, including the weekend, I come to make camouflage netting for the army,” said Natalia Pinchenkova, 49, behind a large Union Jack flag, a show of thanks to Britain for its support for Ukraine since the conflict erupted.
That is “the least we can do” compared with the “suffering of those in Mykolaiv,” she added.
On every street corner, as well as in gymnasiums and theaters, volunteers are busily doing their bit for the war effort.
“People don’t want to stay at home alone listening to the bad news on the radio,” said 21-year-old Bogdan Halaida, who helps organize one of the volunteer groups. “Here at least they can talk to someone and not worry too much about what’s coming next.”
Journalist Yuriy Basijuk has converted his TV studio into a storage site.
“At the start we delivered 10,000 pairs of socks to Kharkiv,” eastern Ukraine’s biggest city, he said, by way of illustrating the diverse needs in times of war.
“We send drinking water to Mykolaiv, which is deprived of it, thanks to three daily rotations by bus,” said Basijuk, who founded a widely followed Internet site in southern Ukraine.
France said it is ready to assist in an operation to allow safe access to Odessa.
Senegalese President and African Union Chairman Macky Sall has urged Ukraine to demine waters around the Odessa port to ease much needed grain exports, but Kyiv still worries that Moscow could parachute in its forces.
“We don’t want to demine everything,” said Yuriy Dimchoglo, a former vice president of the region, referring to negotiations on the setting up of demined “corridors.”
He declined to give details on how many mines are littering the seabed, to the great regret of residents who stroll around well-known Arcadia beach enjoying an ice cream.
Putting even a little toe onto the beach is out of the question. Red signs bearing a skull on them warn people not to go swimming in the water.
Last week somebody was not careful — and the consequences were fatal.
However, thousands do take a dip a bit further around the coast where rumor has it there is no risk.
“We’re not going to let the Russians take the sea away from us,” said Tatyana, who works for local authorities and declined to give her full name. “Putting a swimsuit on is also our form of resistance!”
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