in Odessa, life goes on despite the Russian threat

Odessa (Ukraine) is in the crosshairs of the Russian army. Still spared by the fighting, the first port of the country is barricaded in the face of the threat. But here, life goes on. As before the war, the municipal team maintains the green spaces. “No matter what the situation, no matter how hard times. We have to keep working, we have to believe in a better future and hope that when the war is over our gardens will be in bloom”says Klymenko Zynaida, municipal employee in charge of green spaces.

While most shops and restaurants are closed, a butcher’s shop has decided to stay open. Since the start of the war, 150,000 people have left the city, but those who remain want to continue living. A woman came to buy something to prepare the Ukrainian national dish. 13-year-old Tali Belenkaya’s school is closed, so her teachers are teaching online. Doctor Vadim Stoev, deputy director of the Odessa hospital, is preparing for the worst. He canceled non-emergency operations to have beds available for those wounded in combat.