Goodbye Crimea, hello Odessa: Ukrainians flock to new spot

Odessa, Ukraine

IRINA Chapravska has just snapped up the last room of a luxury hotel that costs 300 euros (S$481) a night and offers a panoramic view of Ukraine's serene Black Sea coastline.

But this is not Crimea, whose pebble beaches have long been a favoured summer destination for millions across the former Soviet Union - until, that is, Russia controversially seized the peninsula from Ukraine last year.