Ukraine’s entire Donetsk region has been synonymous with roses since a Soviet-era project made the region’s capital the city of a million roses – a designation recognized by UNESCO in 1970.

The city of Pokrovsk, 40 miles from the now-occupied capital and 20 miles from the war’s front lines, has long had its roses. But the idea of becoming Ukraine’s rose city was launched in 2022 when the mayor announced that despite the war, the city would plant 60,000 new rosebushes.

“The rose is like us: It has thorns and it protects itself, but it brings beauty into this world,” says Halyna Fateieva, tending her garden at her modest Pokrovsk home. “We too are defending ourselves, but we also give beauty and joy,” she adds. “My neighbors and even strangers say the roses refresh them and give them hope.”

Konstantyn Derevinskyy, director of Pakrovsk’s tranquil Jubilee Park, likewise expresses reverence for the flower and its meaning.

“These are my beauties,” he says, waving to some of the park’s 1,300 rosebushes. “For me they reign over everything else. They are a symbol of the strength of our city. … They keep blooming no matter what, and that gives people hope.”

In this eastern Ukrainian city’s tranquil and orderly Jubilee Park, numerous precautions and accommodations have been implemented in light of the war that rages 20 miles away.

Fountains have remained dry ever since the pipes providing the park’s main source of water were damaged in Russian shelling this spring. The twinkly lights that once drew families and delighted children in the evenings are left off, so as not to encourage the large crowds that could invite missile strikes.

One attribute, however, not only has not changed, but also has defiantly expanded since Russia occupied parts of the surrounding Donetsk region in February 2022: the glorious rose beds that offer expanses of red, white, and yellow blooms for five months every year.

“These are my beauties,” says Konstantyn Derevinskyy, Jubilee’s director, as he presents with a sweep of his hand one bed of the 84-acre park’s 1,300 rosebushes. “For me they reign over everything else. They are a symbol of the strength of our city.”

The park has other flowers, like a popular iris allée, he adds, “but the roses are the queen of our flowers. They keep blooming no matter what, and that gives people hope.”

Mr. Derevinskyy is not alone here in his reverence for roses. Indeed, Ukraine’s entire Donetsk region has been synonymous with roses since a Soviet-era project made the region’s capital, some 40 miles from here, the city of a million roses – a designation recognized by UNESCO in 1970.

Now the capital city of Donetsk is occupied by Russia, and the region is on the front lines of war as Russian President Vladimir Putin pursues his goal of annexing all of Donetsk.