From the first hours of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the famous port city of Odesa has largely been without a working port. Once bustling with cargo vessels, cruise ships, sailboats, yachts and fishing trawlers, the harbor is now a vast expanse of open water. Sophia Dobrovolska, a 16-year-old aspiring merchant marine at the Odesa Sea Academy, lives on that empty sea. “When the full-scale war started, my mom thought of leaving, but I told her: ‘No, my college is here. I will not go.’”President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has ​long made clear that he wants to capture Odesa, a goal that looks increasingly less likely.

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Persons: Sophia Dobrovolska, ”, “, ’, Vladimir V, Putin Organizations: Sea Academy, Odesa Locations: Ukraine, Odesa, Russia