With its white sand, Odessa Beach is welcoming on a sunny afternoon. But since the waves of bombardments carried out by Russia on this great Black Sea port, holidaymakers have deserted the deckchairs.
“There are fewer people because of explosions, strikes and missiles,” said Artiom, 15, who works in a bar by the beach. “On weekends there are usually more people, but it’s worse than before.”
Before the war, the beaches of southern Ukraine were crowded in high season and people drank and danced there until dawn. Ukraine has since mined the coastline, making some no go zones.
Another disaster, in June, the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam on the Dnieper collapsed, spilling waste water, mines and drowned animals onto the coast.
And two weeks ago, Russia withdrew from an agreement that allowed the export of Ukrainian grain, including from Odessa, which it bombed several nights in a row.
Sergiy Bykanov, 41, runs a bar that sells drinks and rents sun loungers. Its current receipts are hardly more than 20% of those of previous summers.
After the Kakhovka dam burst, for which Moscow and kyiv blame each other, “there was no one here for two weeks,” he said.
“A lot of people are afraid (to come). It’s because of the water pollution,” he adds.
Some swimmers still splash happily, but others prefer not to take any chances.
“I don’t swim because I read there are a lot of bad things here,” says Maria, a 25-year-old model who wears a bikini and colorful beads.
“You can catch worms there. I’m really scared,” she laughs.
The beach is “very dirty”, admits her friend Katerina, 23, who works in an Irish bar.
“It’s amazing that they opened the beach for swimming, given the risk of naval mines, even if there is a net,” she adds.
A major clean-up was carried out after the Kakhovka dam broke and swimming is allowed on the beaches protected by nets.
Information boards show photos of naval mines and give advice on what to do if one is found.
“I’m here to sunbathe,” says Katerina. “I haven’t seen my friend for a long time and we decided to spend some time together, like we did before the war.”
Katerina returned to live in Odessa after spending time in Barcelona when the war broke out. She does not regret having returned, despite the strikes that took place near her home.
The Transfiguration Cathedral, badly damaged on Sunday, is “500 meters from my house”, she reveals. “”But I feel no fear, only hatred and devastation.”
Close to the beach is the port, whose grain facilities were affected.
Artyom, 17, from eastern Ukraine, wears a hat printed with cannabis leaves and says this is his first time on the beach in Odessa.
“It’s good, it’s just that there are missiles flying around here,” he says.
This future law student fled with his family Bakhmout, a city devastated by the fighting. He doesn’t know if his house is still standing.
Since then, he has lived in several different cities and has not found time to go to the beach. “You have to go, because you can get really crazy,” he says.
“It feels like the walls are closing in on us,” he adds.
In the nearby dolphinarium, around 60 parents and children watch a show, applauding and filming with their phones. A dolphin colors the Ukrainian flag yellow and blue with markers in its mouth.
According to the director, Volodymyr Mountiane, the 900-seat hall was sometimes full before the invasion. “Unfortunately, the number of visitors is down,” said the 52-year-old.
“Because of the lack of tourists, first of all, and then because a large part of the inhabitants of Odessa left,” he adds.
The dolphinarium remained open for the duration of the war and hosted dolphins from another facility in eastern Ukraine.
When all the beaches were closed, the locals came here “and received positive emotions and energy”, wants to believe the director.
28/07/2023 17:44:23 Odessa (Ukraine) (AFP) © 2023 AFP
