Russian forces had planned to cross the bridge in their attempts to seize the Ukrainian capital Kyiv at the beginning of the war. The Russian army has since retreated hundreds of kilometres away, but launches near-daily missile and drone strikes on the Ukrainian capital that Blasco Ventas chose as his vacation spot.

“It’s my first time in a war zone,” the 23-year-old software engineer said. “I’m a little bit scared, I’m not going to lie, because you never know.” He was on a “dark tourism” tour offered by one of a dozen or so Ukrainian companies specialising in a marginal but growing sector – allowing tourists to visit locations of tragic events.

Before the war, Ukraine already hosted tens of thousands of tourists every year in Chernobyl, which saw the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986.

War Tours, which organised his visit, said it has accommodated around 30 customers since January, mainly Europeans and Americans paying between 150 euros ($157) and 250 euros ($262) for the whole tour. Part of the profits are given to the army, said company co-founder Dmytro Nykyforov who insisted the initiative was “not about money, it’s about memorialization of the war.”

The visits generally centre around Kyiv and its suburbs that saw alleged massacres from Russian troops in the early 2022. But some companies come closer to the front – including a visit of several days in southern Ukraine costing up to 3,300 euros.

But Mykhailyna Skoryk-Shkarivska, local councillor in Irpin and former deputy mayor of Bucha, said most residents are fine with “dark tourism” but some consider the profits from it as “blood money”. “There are accusations – ‘Why do you come here? Why do you want to see our grief?’,” she said, recalling conversations with locals.

Mariana Oleskiv, head of the National Agency for Tourism Development, said the development of war tourism posed many ethical questions but that the market was bound to grow.

Ukraine even recorded 4 million foreign visitors last year, according to Oleskiv. The number is twice as high as it was in 2022, but comprises mainly business travellers. Ukraine is already preparing for the post-war period, including by signing deals with Airbnb and TripAdvisor.