The Port of Odesa / Порт Одеси

The port has been central to Odesa’s identity since the city’s founding at the end of the 18th century. Established in 1794 under the Russian Empire, Odesa was conceived first and foremost as a maritime gateway to the Black Sea. The harbor quickly became the engine of the city’s growth, attracting merchants, sailors, and migrants from across Europe and the Mediterranean. Greeks, Jews, Italians, Armenians, Ukrainians, Russians, and many others shaped Odesa into a distinctly cosmopolitan city—its openness, humor, and cultural diversity rooted in the rhythms of trade and seafaring life.

Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, the port connected the fertile hinterlands of southern Ukraine to global markets. Grain exports, in particular, turned Odesa into one of the most important commercial hubs of the Black Sea region. The harbor was not only an economic center but also a social one, structuring urban life, labor, and the city’s relationship with the wider world.

Today, the port remains strategically vital. Since the full-scale invasion, it has become one of the main export routes for Ukrainian wheat and other agricultural products, crucial not only for the national economy but also for global food security. At the same time, the harbor is a frequent target of Russian drone and missile attacks. Strikes on port infrastructure underscore its military and economic significance, while reinforcing its vulnerability.

In wartime Odesa, the port stands as both lifeline and target—a place where the city’s past as an open, multinational trading hub collides with the realities of modern warfare, and where the struggle to keep global connections alive continues under constant threat.