Tourists once flocked to the Ukrainian resort of Odesa to lie on its Black Sea beaches, but the white sands are now covered in mines because of the war with Russia and police officers patrol the boardwalks. Ukraine's military planted mines along the coast in case of a Russian amphibious assault after Moscow's Feb 24 invasion, cordoning off beach entrances.
(Reuters) - Tourists once flocked to the Ukrainian resort of Odesa to lie on its Black Sea beaches, but the white sands are now covered in mines because of the war with Russia and police officers patrol the boardwalks.
A third of Ukrainians have called Russian their mother tongue. Russian statues and cultural markers abound. Are these influences inherently toxic? The war is prompting emotional conversations.