In Pictures

Photos: Odesa prepares its defences amid fears of Russian attack

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned on Sunday that Moscow was ‘preparing to bomb Odesa’.

Metal barricades placed to the streets as part of defense preparations due to ongoing Russian attacks on Ukraine, in the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa — Metal barricades placed to the streets as part of defence preparations due to continuing Russian attacks on Ukraine, in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa [Maksym Voitenko/Anadolu]

Odesa, which Ukraine fears could be the next target of Russia’s offensive in the south, is the country’s main port and is vital for its economy.

But the city of one million people close to the Romanian and Moldovan borders also holds a special place in the Russian imagination.

A cosmopolitan port on the Black Sea with stunning 19th-century architecture, sandy beaches and a Mediterranean climate, it has a Russian-speaking majority.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned on Sunday that Moscow was “preparing to bomb Odesa”, saying, “It will be a war crime … a historical crime.”

French President Emmanuel Macron told Russian President Vladimir Putin during a phone call on Sunday of his concerns about a possible imminent attack on the Ukrainian city of Odesa, according to a statement from Macron’s office.

Odesa is Ukraine’s main port complex. The one in the city itself handles petrol and metals, while others in nearby Youjni and Illytchyivsk handle chemicals and containers.

A large part of Ukraine’s enormous corn and barley exports pass through the ports.

The city’s beaches, Italianate architecture and relaxed way of life have made it a tourist magnet, with numbers increasing since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

Odesa is located some 70 kilometres (43 miles) from Transnistria, the tiny unrecognised separatist Russian-speaking statelet that broke away from Moldova as the Soviet Union collapsed. NATO member Romania is a four-hour drive away.

But the city resisted the separatist push that took parts of the mainly Russian-speaking Donbas region in the east out of Kyiv’s control after Putin annexed Crimea.

Security measures taken as part of defense preparations due to ongoing Russian attacks on Ukraine, in the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa — A Ukrainian soldier stand guard on a street in Odesa. [Maksym Voitenko/Anadolu]

A woman from Odessa talks to her son as they fill bags with sand for frontlines, along the beach of the Black Sea city of Odessa — A woman talks to her son as they fill bags with sand along the beach of the Black Sea city of Odesa. [Bulent Kilic/AFP]

Volunteers fill sandbags, during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, on a beach in the city of Odessa — Volunteers fill sandbags on a beach. Odesa, which Ukraine fears could be the next target of Russia's offensive in the south, is the country's main port and is vital for its economy. [Alexandros Avramidis/Reuters]

Sandbag barricades are constructed as part of defense preparations — Sandbag barricades are constructed as part of defence preparations. [Maksym Voitenko/Anadolu]

Metal barricades placed to the streets. [Maksym Voitenko/Anadolu]

Civilians who volunteered to join the Territorial Defense Forces train on weapons, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Odessa — Civilians who volunteered to join the Territorial Defence Forces receive weapons training. [Alexandros Avramidis/Reuters]

A father puts his hand on the window as he says goodbye to his daughter in front of an evacuation train at the central train station in Odessa — A father puts his hand on the window as he says goodbye to his daughter as an evacuation train leaves the central train station in Odesa. [Bulent Kilic/AFP]