Odessa, Ukraine: Anxiety Over Putin's Next Move

Ukrainians in Odessa march in Support of their Country

Like many people in this gritty southwestern port city on the Black Sea, Nastya Shapoval is afraid more trouble is in store after a series of bombs targeted pro-Ukrainian activists and separatists announced plans to spread their campaign to Odessa.

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"Of course, I'm worried," says Shapoval, 19, a law student at the Military Academy of Odessa, who lost many friends among government forces fighting separatists in eastern Ukraine in the past few months. "As far as (rebels) managed to get ... anything is possible."

Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists have begun to withdraw heavy weapons from the front lines as part of a shaky cease-fire agreement that was supposed to start Feb. 15 in the eastern part of the country, where fierce battles have been ongoing for months and have left nearly 5,800 dead since April.

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Though Odessa is more than 400 miles away from the separatist stronghold in Donetsk, it is haunted by the deadly conflict. More than 50 people were killed when a building was set on fire in May during clashes between pro-Russian activists and Ukrainian government supporters.

The city could see renewed violence after separatists announced a new phase of the "Russian Spring" this week, calling for an expansion of the rebel movement to the cities of Kharkiv, Kherson, Nikolaev and Odessa, according to an unconfirmed report in a Facebook post by Andrew Levus, a member of Ukraine's parliament.

For Max Vitalyevich, 17, the nation's conflict came home when an apartment belonging to pro-government activists in his building was bombed Feb. 11, shattering windows in his home.

Vitalyevich, who's learning to become a mechanic at a vocational school, faces the possibility of being drafted when he turns 18 to help defend his country against the separatist advances. He says Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, elected on promises to fight corruption and lift Ukraine's failing economy, should do whatever is necessary to restore peace.

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