Life’s still a beach on the edge of battle

Ukraine’s Black Sea port city of Odesa remains braced for invasion, with air raid sirens and missile attacks. On the beaches, though, the main risk of battle looks likely to be rows over sun loungers.

Despite the odd thump of naval exchanges, the city’s seaside strip was full of sunbathers at the weekend. A few hundred kilometres further east, Mariupol lies in ruins. However, Odesa resembles the bustling French Riviera.

Wish you were here? Admittedly, many of the city’s beaches are mined to prevent an amphibious assault and Russian warships have left hundreds of mines in the sea.

But after two years of Covid and three months of conflict, Odesa’s tourist industry needs business to survive. And for those hitting the beach, a dose of early summer sun feels just right after a winter of war. “Sometimes you just want to lead a normal life, otherwise you start to go mad under permanent stress,” said Vadim Holubenko, who has been unable to work because of Russia’s naval blockade.

Home to a million people, Odesa’s attractions include the 19th-century Potemkin Stairs. The city’s art nouveau architecture feels more European than Russian — and just like Cannes, there’s an annual film festival.

A fortnight ago, it was struck by seven missiles, one demolishing a shopping centre. But with Russian ground forces still bogged down outside Mykolaiv, 160km east, Odesa’s tourism chiefs are rolling out the welcome mat as usual. “It’s nice to see you here,” says Alexander Sheka, the city’s deputy director of tourism, who breezily describes the missiles as “hellos from our neighbours”.

Like tourism bosses in Jaws, he is torn between encouraging people to visit, and warning them of the potential dangers. He is finalising air-raid evacuation procedures for museums, as well the beaches. “We have to work out what to do if there are people out swimming when something happens.”