Harrowing images showed Ukrainian families huddled underground wrapped in blankets and heavy clothing Wednesday in Kyiv’s subway system, where as many as 15,000 people were reportedly holed up to avoid Russia’s deadly bombardment.
At the Dorohozhychi station — just half a block from the TV tower that was attacked on Tuesday — dozens of families have been sleeping on its stone floor since the Russian invasion began Thursday.
One family is living inside a tent, while others simply spread out their books and food on bedsheets and towels.
The dank, chilly station — which is permeated with cooking odors and the smell of sweat — was also the scene Wednesday of an emotional reunion for the Badyleyvch family, which got separated following the missile strike on the city’s TV antenna.
A woman reads as she takes shelter in the Dorohozhychi subway station. Chris McGrath
A map shows the areas of Ukraine under siege by Russia.
Sergiy Badyleyvch, a wounded Ukrainian soldier with a broken leg, said he feared his wife and two young sons had been killed in the attack.
“Yesterday, they stepped outside, and two minutes later there was a blast,” he said after dropping his crutches to pick up his 5-year-old boy.
“I called my wife, I wanted to tell her to run home, but someone on the street was yelling at her to run to the shelter.”
A woman sits in a tent as people take shelter on March 2. Chris McGrathThe 42-year-old added: “I had no idea whether she was alive.”
Natalia Badyleyvch tried to steady her hands as she glanced at her husband, then looked at their kids.
“Now, the little one is afraid to go outside. He says ‘Mum no, anything but that,'” she said.
A family huddles in the train station. Anadolu AgencyNearby, Antonina Puziy, a 75-year-old retiree, was peeling potatoes and chopping carrots for some soup.
She said she decided to hide out underground with her grandchildren as soon as explosions from Russian missiles boomed before sunrise Thursday.
“We live on the 12th floor. It is very frightening up there,” she said while pointing a potato peeler toward the curved ceiling.
Citizens shelter in a train on March 2. Chris McGrath“My daughters bring down some food. And the neighbors bring down pastries for the little ones. Everyone tries to help.”
Kyiv is Ukraine’s largest city, with a population of around 3 million.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko, a former world heavyweight boxing champ, announced Saturday that the city’s subways were no longer running and that the system would serve as a bomb shelter.
A girl plays with her dog and cat in the Dorohozhychi subway station. Chris McGrathOne day earlier, a baby girl named Mia was born in a Kyiv subway station as her mom sought refuge there from the Russian onslaught.
Ukrainian Parliament member Hannah Hopko posted a photo of the infant on Facebook, noting that she “was born this night in stressful environment — bombing of Kyiv.”
Kyiv’s subway network of 52 stations and tunnels was built in the early 1960s when Ukraine was a Soviet republic, and it was designed to serve as both public transportation and potential protection from air raids.
Each station also has food, water, bathrooms and medicine available. Chris McGrathThe Arsenalna station, named after the nearby Kyiv Arsenal Factory, lies 350 feet underground, making it the deepest in the world, according to the Atlas Obscura website, which says it can take five minutes to travel up or down its multiple escalators.
Each of Kyiv’s stations can easily hold 1,000 people, but those numbers could theoretically be doubled to accommodate a total of around 100,000 people, said Viktor Brahinsky, head of the Kyiv metro.
Each station also has food, water, bathrooms and medicine available, the Kyiv Independent tweeted Wednesday.
A couple huddles at the Dorohozhychi station. Anastasia VlasovaUkrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, have been drawing comparisons between the invasion ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Adolf Hitler’s failed attempt to conquer Europe during World War II.
That campaign included the infamous Nazi bombardment of Britain, dubbed “the Blitz,” during which Londoners took refuge in that city’s subway system.
With Post wires






