It translates as "crooked horn", but President Zelensky calls Kryvyi Rih his "big soul and heart".
He credits this gritty, industrial city with moulding his character. He grew up in a sprawling block of flats known as the Anthill.
When you stand in front of this towering structure, Volodymyr Zelensky's journey from this setting to wartime leader feels remarkable.
"I want the war to end soon," says Vita, who lived near Zelensky's parents. "He's a normal, good guy who fights for people. I just want this war and the sirens to end sooner."
But with minimal Ukrainian progress and growing Russian dominance, there is no end in sight, and that's both fuelling and being fuelled by influential pockets of Western doubters.
At the recent Munich Security Conference, President Zelensky told delegates not to ask Ukraine when the war would end, but instead to "ask why Putin is still able to continue it".
With blocked military aid now directly hampering his forces on the front line, it was a swipe at those delaying the ammunition and weapons his soldiers desperately need.
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