For Ukrainians living with the constant threat of war, ordinary peacetime pleasures like a summer vacation can seem irresistible.
That’s why thousands are willing to risk being exposed to Russian attacks for a visit to Odesa, a resort city along the Black Sea coast.
The city has been hit by Russian drones and shells, but Ukrainian visitors say the risks are no different than what they routinely face in their own hometowns.
“We're from Kharkiv, so we're used to it,” one young tourist told Current Time. “We get hit every day.” In Odesa, she said, “we knew it might be scary. But we need a break.”
Others agree that the stress of the war has only intensified the need for a temporary respite – particularly for the parents of young children.
“It's our first time here since 2022. The kids need a vacation,” one father said. “There’s a war, but their childhood won't last forever. It has to be a happy one.”
Odesa’s beaches are crowded with sun-seekers as well as vendors selling snacks like baklava, boiled corn, and shrimp from the Black Sea.
Hotels inside the historic center of Odesa, a UNESCO heritage site, are in high demand. One hotel manager named Iryna said that last year marked a record number of visitors for the city, and that this summer’s count might exceed the previous one.
But there are rules in place to keep guests safe from potential air strikes. “First, don’t ignore the air raid sirens. Second -- always know where a shelter is. It can save your life,” Iryna said. “And third -- just stay friendly and cheerful, like people always have been in Odesa.”
Many hotels have built their own bomb shelters, in addition to public shelters installed on the city’s beaches where vacationers can wait out an air raid alert.
Emergency workers also search the beaches for mines, according to Marina Lozovenko, a city official. “Before the season starts, divers check the area -- the sea floor, the sand,” she said. “And every month they do another inspection. We don’t know what [the enemy] might have dropped on us.”
On July 19, a major Russian drone attack struck Odesa, killing at least one person and setting apartment buildings on fire. The shells of burned-out cars lined a city street.
One resident living nearby described the dissonance of seeing tourists flock to the embattled city. “This year, Odesa is like Monaco during the day and Afghanistan at night,” she said. “I don’t understand why people keep coming. They see we’re being hit every night and every day. But they keep coming. The beaches are packed.”
But some in the tourism industry see the high numbers as a natural symptom of Ukrainians’ exhaustion with the war. Iryna, the hotel manager, said she thinks people are tired of being afraid.
“The psychological pressure is intolerable,” she said. “We have to keep living. What else can we do?”
