If there is a symbol of Ukrainian insouciance in the face of clear and present danger, it might just be this city. Nikopol lies within four miles of the besieged nuclear plant, but if you arrived on Monday and took a walk around, you might be fooled into thinking things were normal. People waited at bus stops, lugged heavy plastic bags as they exited supermarkets, pushed strollers down sidewalks. Not only is Nikopol a hair’s breadth from the nuclear power plant, it also gets shelled nearly every day by Russian troops just across the river. But about half the city’s prewar population of 100,000 still lives here, and there was no visible exodus, despite all the recent warnings of impending doom.

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Persons: ”, Maksym Baklanov, it’s Locations: Nikopol