What It’s Like to Be From Ukraine Right Now, According To SSUR’s Ruslan Karablin

Ruslan Karablin, the founder of pioneering streetwear brand SSUR, is from Odessa, Ukraine. It’s the third largest city in the country and located in the southwestern coast where it’s currently preparing for impending Russian attacks. As many readers should know, Ukraine has been bombarded by Russian military forces for the past month, which has created the world’s fastest growing refugee crisis since World War II. The war has unleashed devastating consequences on Ukraine’s civilians, who Karabalin is routinely speaking to.

“I’m in touch with my manager and friends every day. A lot have become volunteers, from filling sandbags to taking medical training classes to be helpful to their fellow citizens,” says Karablin, who has operated a SSUR flagship in Odessa for the past eight years. “I’ve noticed, especially in Odessa, and I can’t speak for the rest of Ukraine but I’m sure there’s a lot of love too, but to the inhabitants of Odessa, our city is sacred. We don’t want that to change.”

Odessa, which boasts a population of approximately 1 million, is a major port city revered as Ukraine’s “southern capital” and is a popular tourist destination during the summer. But now, Russian warships are just off the city’s coastline and streets that were once filled with cafes are now lined with barricades as a new reality throughout the country has set in. 

Karablin has spent the last couple of years in Los Angeles running SSUR, an influential line he originally launched in New York City during the early ‘90s that has inspired designers such as Virgil Abloh and influenced brands like Supreme. Although Karablin’s rich background single-handedly made him one of the most prolific figures within New York and Los Angeles’ streetwear scenes, the Coney Island-raised designer has always held a special place in his heart for Odessa, a well-known parallel city to New York in the realm of culture and arts.

“It was like my own personal Paris. A place where the people spoke my language, the food made me feel at home, I could walk around the city I love, and just take in the beauty of it,” says Karablin. “There’s a big community of creative artists, musicians, sculptors, writers, and poets. I felt the history of Odessa when I walked its streets—my history. I felt I was and remain a part of the culture and added to it and was accepted.”

Here, Karablin speaks about his Ukrainian background, Odessa’s rich urban culture, which has drastically changed within the last couple of weeks, and what it feels like to watch his city prepare for war from Los Angeles.