12/05/2026
In January 2026, I returned to Odesa, Ukraine – eight years after my first visit. This time, there were no tourists. Only generators, shattered glass, and a people refusing to give up.
What started as a stock footage trip became a journey into the heart of a war zone. I walked the bombed-out Pryvoz Market (founded 1827), filmed the rusting love locks on the Mother in Law Bridge, and stood next to the destroyed Hotel Odesa. I met teenagers selling newspapers in the fog, a coffee shop owner who keeps his doors open despite no profit, and a young girl whose father is gone – she works to support her brother and mother.
But the most unexpected discovery was a tiny Chinese noodle house inside the Athena Gallery. There, I found a community: Chinese fighters from Hong Kong fighting for Ukraine, a dual British-Canadian soldier of Chinese ethnicity, and an owner who refused my payment twice. His only request? “Tell the world that Chinese are fighting on the right side of history.”
In January 2026, I returned to Odesa, Ukraine – eight years after my first visit. This time, there were no tourists. Only generators, shattered glass, and a ...
