Ukrainians are accustomed to going without.
Many areas suffer from frequent power cuts, water supplies can be interrupted and many homes lie in ruins. However, bread is an essential, so bakeries have continued to operate even in the most difficult conditions.
The Nakhlebnyk Bakery in Kharkiv gave up baking cakes and luxuries for a year to produce only bread to sustain local people – without charging them. Now operations have expanded again but with a smaller workforce – just a third of the size it was before the conflict with Russia began.
Owner Olga Leonova says electricity and energy costs account for 60 percent of turnover, with staff costs and ingredients added.
“This is wrong from the point of view of running a business,” she observes.
Another cost the bakery has faced is clearing up the damage from bombs landing near the apartment block where it is located.
But her dilemma, and her persistence, are emblematic …