Ukrainian volunteers fold clothing at a center in Mykolaiv, set up to supply the army with makeshift bullet proof vests, clothing and other supplies.
Displaced people disembark from a damaged bus upon their arrival at the Ukrainian Red Cross center in the key shipbuilding center on the Black Sea coast. Among them is 90-year-old Sofia Boiko, her eyes fearful from under a blue plaid shawl.
An icon is wrapped on a column at the volunteer center by a banner scribbled with the words “I love Ukraine,” and “I hate Putin” in the colors of Ukraine’s blue-and-yellow flag, along with these simple words of encouragement: “STAY STRONG.”
Faced with fierce Ukrainian resistance, Russian forces are stalled at Mykolaiv, an entry point to several other key Black Sea ports, which if seized would completely cut off Ukraine’s access to its coast.
