‘Fortress Odesa’: city falls silent as fearful residents await Russian advance

Artyem, a national guard battalion commander, stands on the central street of Odesa his troops used to patrol before the war. Officials estimate that at least 60% of the city’s population have fled. Photograph: Anton Skyba/The Globe and Mail/The Guardian

The Ukrainian port of Odesa has fallen silent, revellers in its city centre replaced by blockades and tank traps, its famous Potemkin steps empty and statues protected by sandbags, waiting to see if the bombs that have fallen across most of the other great cities of the country will land here too.

A Russian-speaking cultural and strategic hub on the Black Sea, it is clear that Moscow’s invasion plan included trying to seize control of this historic city. Yet 20 days into the war on Ukraine, its streets are undamaged by explosives, though emptied by the tide of war.