From Mariia's 16th-floor flat, the calm waters of the Black Sea stretch out into the horizon beneath the fading twilight. Up here you can see and hear when the drones come, she says, standing by a wall-length, floor-to-ceiling window. When they hit buildings and homes in the city of Odesa down below we see all the fires too.
Her daughter Eva, who is nine, has learned the shapes and sounds of the objects that zoom through the sky on a daily basis. She proudly shows off a list of social media channels she checks when the air raid alerts go off. She knows whether what's coming is a risk or a threat, and that calms her down, her father Sergii says.
There is scarcely a place in Ukraine that has not been targeted since Russia launched its full-scale invasion nearly four years ago. But in recent weeks Odesa – Ukraine's third largest city – has come under sustained attack. Through strikes on port and energy infrastructure, Russia is trying to cripple the region's economy and dent the population's morale.
Moscow, however, does not just hit facilities. Its drones, mostly as big as a motorcycle, regularly crash into high-rise buildings like Mariia's, exploding on impact and blowing glass and debris inward. The consequences are often deadly.
A month later, as temperatures hover around -1C, the supply remains severely disrupted. Many residents remain undeterred by air raid sirens that echo frequently. Ada, a local, remarks that the shelling isn't as scary as this cold is. Meanwhile, Yana tells about the traumatic experiences of her family as drones hit their apartment, compounding the struggles of surviving the winter without power or consistent support from infrastructure.
As attacks on the region intensify, Sergii wonders whether the family should prepare to leave again. War is only about economics, and Odesa for the Russians is about infrastructure, so they will do their best to conquer it, he says.
