Traces of supremacy struggles in Bulgaria, ethnic Russians who fled from oppression to Romania, Ukrainian wheat farmers with a long record of hardships... Actor Nomura Yuuka visited the Black Sea countries in 2013, just before Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula. She heard many family histories of being at the mercy of great powers seeking control over the bountiful, strategically located sea which never freezes. They provide hints on why Russia launched its 2022 military invasion of Ukraine.