Odessa-fishermen-war-68
Sasha, a farmer and retired fisherman, on the island of Ankudinov, where his family has resided since Vilkovo was settled by the Old Believers in the late 1700's. For generations, people of Vilkovo have survived as fishermen and from the agriculture grown in the rich soil of the Danube. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, over half the fishermen have left, unable to maintain a profit with the closure of the prime fishing areas. Other residents, such as Sasha, who survived from farming, were blocked from returning to their land until the spring of 2023, over a year after the invasion. Vilkovo, Odessa Oblast, Ukraine on November 1, 2023.