The people of Odesa in Ukraine have placed hundreds of sandbags around the city’s bronze statue of Duke de Richelieu as they prepare for a Russian attack.
The monument, unveiled in 1828, is regarded as a symbol of the city. The duke was governor of Odesa, which greatly increased in size and importance under his administration.
The statue sits at the top of the famous Odesa Steps, or Potemkin Steps, the formal entrance to the city. The 200 steps were made famous in Sergei Eisenstein’s 1925 silent film Battleship Potemkin. Read more about Ukrainians’ efforts to save their cultural heritage here from the destruction of war.
