'We don't know how to kill': Residents of Odessa who cannot fight help with war efforts in other ways
'We don't know how to kill'
Since shortly after the invasion of Ukraine began on Feb. 24, civilians from all walks of life have been filling bags with sand, tying them up and transporting them into the city where they have been used for barriers and to protect monuments.
"We work here because we don't know how to kill," said event photographer Victor Skrypnik.
Patriotic songs and hard work
Dozens of people milled around behind him and a digger piled up mounds of sand. Occasionally, workers burst into patriotic song.
"We are not professional warriors, but we can help our army and 60% of victory is built here by (ordinary) people," Skrypnik said.
Zelensky calls on citizens to join war
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called on citizens to join the war effort in whatever way they can.
Tens of thousands have answered his call as Russia's military advances in the south and northeast and is close to the outskirts of the capital Kyiv.
Fighting might reach Odessa soon
Moscow says it is conducting a "special operation" to demilitarise and "denazify" Ukraine. Ukraine and Western allies call this a baseless pretext for a war of conquest.
Russian troops have not yet reached Odessa, but Britain's Defence Ministry said on Sunday that Russian naval forces have formed a blockade of Ukraine's Black Sea coast. Many in Odessa feel it is only a matter of time before fighting reaches them.
A historical city
Residents are particularly proud of their city. Odessa, with its historic buildings and wide boulevards, was a favourite holiday destination for people across the Soviet Union.
It is also where a 1905 uprising, supported by mutineering Russian sailors, was violently crushed by tsarist forces - scenes which director Sergei Eisenstein famously set on Odessa's giant stairway in his 1925 film "Battleship Potemkin."
400,000 bags of sand moved so far
On the beach, organisers said they had moved around 400,000 bags of sand into Odessa so far and that some 700 tonnes of sand were being bagged up each day.
"We are very optimistic here about the situation, because the people are very united," said comedian Ivan Dyubo.
"You can see that different ages, different languages, different cultures are all prepared to fight for Ukraine, and for the whole Europe actually.
"While NATO is quite silent, we are actually fighting," he added, echoing growing frustration among Ukrainians that the West is not doing more to help repel Russia's advance.
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