An aerial view of the Sobachyi Beach in Ukraine’s southern port city Odesa shows the Black Sea and the coastline polluted with blooming algae and marine litter. Numerous chemicals, plastic and drugs pollute Ukrainian rivers and seas, making the waters toxic and dangerous for marine and human life.
Kyiv resident Natalia Vakulenko planned to take her two children to the beach to escape the heat on a summer day in July.
The family was about to leave home when Vakulenko came across a Facebook post that made her change her mind.