There was the sound of laughter and Ukrainian pop music. On this day, local Odesans and tourists from other parts of Ukraine were braving the cool waters of the Black Sea, despite the risk. It was removed safely, without causing injury or damage. One of those Russian sea mines - what Sapunshtyn calls bombs, meant to impede grain shipments from Odesa's port - floated up on another public beach in early July. "We don't swim longer because I think it's dangerous, actually, because a lot of bombs and nobody knows how it's moving in the sea," she said. Russian ships and aircraft regularly fire missiles that strike Odesa.Įven now, Sapunshtyn said she was wary of swimming out into the deeper water. Now this stretch of Black Sea coast is an active war zone, at the center of a global conflict over grain shipments. In peacetime, cosmopolitan crowds speaking a dozen different languages would swim here together. The chic beaches of Odesa, a short walk from glitzy hotels and shoreside restaurants, were once a draw for tourists from around the world - many of them from Russia. "It's really important for everybody, for every family." "This is the summer to be a little bit relaxed when we have the kids," she said. ODESA, Ukraine - On a hot, late-summer afternoon, Tatiana Sapunshtyn came with her daughter Polina to wade and sunbathe on a city beach in Odesa in southern Ukraine. Warning signs urged people to keep their distance. When missiles and drone attacks first hit the city - and Russian naval vessels started laying explosive sea mines around the port - the beaches were closed. People swim and sunbathe on a reopened beach at the Black Sea on Aug.
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