The Sea of Azov: Ukraine’s loss but hardly Russia’s gain

Kyiv, Ukraine – The first things Mariya Bubnova recalls about the Sea of Azov are the small sailboats she and her friends rented to cruise its warm and barely salty waters.

“It was our tradition – to get together once a year,” the dark-haired businesswoman, displaced person and mother of two tells Al Jazeera.

These days, Azov is no longer the place of wistful memories for ...