Until a few months ago, life was relatively peaceful in Kyiv when compared with the situation near the war's front lines elsewhere in Ukraine. Now, as Russia expands its attacks on the capital, Kyiv has increasingly become a front-line city. With too few shelters for the 4 million residents of Kyiv, subway stations double as makeshift dormitories.
Starting at about 10 every night, people create sleeping areas with mattresses and small tents. Children snuggle up to adults; pets seek comfort from their owners or find a spot among strangers between the cold walls. "We're alive," Halyna told DW, holding her 5-year-old son, Roman, close.
"We've been lucky once again." Most evenings — even when no air-raid siren has sounded — she takes the boy to the nearest subway station. Her apartment is located in the Lukyanivka district, which Russia has systematically targeted over the war's four years and eight months. In September, 14-year-old Daniel Umanskyj was doing homework in his room when a Russian drone struck the apartment building in the central district of Pechersk.
A neighbor named Vlad happened to be in the hallway with his daughter at the time of the strike. "We were late that day — and this saved our lives," Vlad said. "Daniel's death is a tragedy." He added: "These sick monsters don't care who they kill." Flowers have been planted in front of the damaged apartment building in memory of Daniel.
Russia also targets places where children gather. In early October, a drone struck a school building in southwestern Kyiv. Fortunately, pupils and teachers were already in shelters at the time.
"We've been teaching all the pupils in person because we have a large shelter that can accommodate more than 500 students," Valentyna Chorna, the school's principal, told DW. As there is enough space in the shelter for everyone, students in the first through ninth grades are able to go to school, she said. Whether classes take place depends not only on the decision of the parents and the school administration: It also depends on whether shelters are available and how long the air-raid siren continues to sound.
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