The Russian destruction of Odesa's Pryvoz Market

The first thing Boris and I did when we visited Odesa was walk to the house where he grew up. The next thing we did was buy fruit at Pryvoz Market.

A Unesco world heritage site (though all of central Odesa is now considered “heritage in danger” by Unesco), Pryvoz was always bustling with all kinds of people, all eager to get their hands on the latest batch of blueberries, cherries, oranges—and it was the fruit in particular the market was recognized for, thanks to the beautiful (and architecturally significant) “Fruit Passage,” built by Fedir Nesturkh in 1904.

This was one of the first photographs I put on the wall when we bought our first house.

Last night, Russia struck Pryvoz, along with other targets.

People worked through the early morning to save the food they could, and the sections of the market not reduced to rubble have been open today.