You can get agoraphobia in Odesa compared to Kyiv. The streets are filled with people, cars, and the usual buzz and noise of the city. There are open cafes, store shelves are filled with products, and you can even find open fast food, which is rare in Kyiv. The difference is that no missile has fallen on this city for a long time since the beginning of the war.

But that doesn't mean Odesa is living everyday life. It is still a city at war and is getting ready for it. There is a curfew and a blackout.

Volunteers fill sandbags for hours daily to create and secure the city's barricades and the coast. Others work at voluntary service points, preparing medical and food packages for the military.

For now, it seems that Odesa and its inhabitants may be able to save themselves from the fate of other cities attacked and shelled. A landing from the sea would be difficult and fatal for the Russian troops.

The stormy weather was not good for them either. And attempts to cut off Odesa by land from Kyiv were stopped by Ukrainian troops with the help of the inhabitants of Mikolajiv and Voznesensk, two towns that bravely stopped the march of Russian armoured columns. Looking at the problems and the slow progress of the Russian troops, the capture or cut-off of Odesa seems unattainable for Russia.