In kyiv under bombs, Ukrainians take refuge in the subway

As explosions continue to reverberate over kyiv, Yulia Volochyna waits for the storm to pass, sheltering in a metro station like a hundred other Ukrainians torn between anxiety and fatalism.

Russia launched its biggest wave of aerial bombardments in weeks early Monday morning, claiming to target energy sites and killing at least four people in western and southern Ukraine.

The Ukrainian capital was also attacked, at a time when many of its residents are going to work.

“When there are explosions, it always makes me shudder. My heart beats faster,” explains Ms. Volochyna, in a calm voice. “It's hard to live with this,” said the 34-year-old lawyer, wearing a blue dress and a cross pendant around her neck.

Now that the war is in its third year, Ukrainians are trying to balance the need to continue living with the need to shelter from deadly strikes.

Kiev residents often ignore the air raid alarms that have become part of daily life, but the blasts were unusually loud this time.

At the foot of the long escalator leading to the metro at the central Khreshchatyk station, a good 100 people wait for the green light from the authorities to resume their normal lives.

Some have taken out their laptops and are already working, seated on the stone steps.

Sitting in a circle on seats distributed by metro employees, a group of students share snacks.

– “Getting used to it” –

Anna Boublyk, immersed in a book, says she has gotten used to the war.

“When you hear an explosion, you don't feel super comfortable, but if you worry all the time… We've been hearing these explosions for three years now,” says the 23-year-old.

Svetlana Khartchenko, for her part, is chatting with a woman she has just met, both sitting on folding chairs in front of the red and gold mosaic that adorns the station.

She arrived at around 6:30 a.m., just after the alarm went off.

“Everyone here feels pain,” she said. “What's disturbing is that we seem to be getting used to this fear.”

During an airstrike in kyiv, residents take refuge in the metro, August 26, 2024 © AFP – Roman PILIPEY

Aged 51, this woman is from the Donetsk region, in the east, today partly occupied by the Russian army.

“No one thought that Russia, who was once our sister, would cause us so much sorrow,” she confides. “It's such a brutal war that's happening there,” she adds, tears in her eyes.

Russia is focusing its military efforts on the Donetsk region despite the unprecedented counter-offensive launched by Ukrainian forces in the Russian region of Kursk, intended among other things to force Moscow to move its troops.

Youlia Volochyna says she worries about her brother who is fighting on the front lines.

“I worry about my family, my friends, all of Ukraine, our defenders,” she emphasizes. “We've been stressed for three years now.”

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