Sandbags are being used to try and protect statues and cultural landmarks in cities all around Ukraine from Russian bombs.
Civilians in Odessa have been packing sandbags since shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022 using them as barriers to protect monuments and landmarks in the proudly historic city. Reports from earlier this month described people bursting into song while building barricades across the city, crooning Bobby McFerrin‘s “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” along with the national anthem and other patriotic songs.
Residents are particularly proud of their city. Odessa, with its historic buildings and wide boulevards, was a favorite holiday destination for people across the Soviet Union. It is also where a 1905 uprising, supported by mutineer Russian sailors, was violently crushed by Tsarists forces – scenes which director Sergei Eisenstein famously set on Odessa’s giant stairway in his 1925 film Battleship Potemkin.
Odessa has so far escaped shelling but its one million people are nervously waiting to see if their historic city will be next to suffer the heavy Russian bombardment after Kyiv and Mariupol to the north and east. Some welders made steel spikes called “hedgehogs” along with razor wire to stop military vehicles.
Ukraine had begged NATO for a no fly zone but the response has been a consistent, Fuck no, Russia has nukes, we don’t want to risk upsetting Putin.
Ukraine has lost its ability to vaccinate it’s population against COVID due to the invasion. 35% of the population had been vaccinated with 2 doses prior to the start of the war. Only 2% of the population had received a booster dose. At least 9 health care facilities have been bombed. Those that remain open are overwhelmed with trauma patients. With supply shortages, any patients with COVID are unlikely to get proper treatment. Living conditions in bomb shelters and refugee camps are a breading ground for the spread of the virus. It is also very possible that countries who are taking in refugees will see a spike in cases. Infectious disease and war amount to a perfect storm for death and destruction.