In the days before Vladimir Putin launched his invasion, rumours started to swirl in Odesa that its mayor had ordered one million red roses from Ecuador to adorn Russian troops upon their eventual arrival into the city.
The ties that bind Odesa and Russia stretch back many centuries, running along historical, cultural and family lines. In the late 1790s, the empress Catherine the Great helped build the modern foundations of the city, which, to this day, remains distinctively Russian in its character, language and outlook.
