Russia Ukraine War News highlights: Crimea bridge to be repaired next summer; Elon Musk says SpaceX cannot fund Ukraine’s vital Starlink internet indefinitely

Kyiv residents add basements to regular life

As Kyiv residents scrambled for refuge in shelters and basements on Tuesday morning — where they lingered for hours bracing for an attack that never came — many said they were clinging to a fragile sense of normalcy, even as life moved underground.

File photo of a teacher visits a basement beneath a school in Kyiv, prepared as a shelter and classroom in the weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine. (Lynsey Addario/The New York Times)

Kateryna Druzenko, 30, took shelter in a cafe in the basement of a hotel in Kyiv on Tuesday after the siren rang out. She said she went to the cafe to shelter with friends, a day after a barrage of missiles left at least five people dead in the center of the city. Fourteen more people were killed elsewhere in the country.

“Unfortunately, we’re getting used to what’s happening around us,” she said. “And when you’re among close people it’s much easier to go through this.”

For months, many in the capital had chosen not to seek shelter when the sirens rang out. But after Monday’s assault, many took the warnings seriously, even as they expressed strong feelings of defiance. “This time there wasn’t that a particular fear,” Druzenko added. “You feel anger.”

Residents of Kyiv, buffeted by months of war, were prepared, having taken similar precautions in the early days of the conflict. At the same time, some cafes, hotels and shops have become accustomed to opening their basements to people seeking safety. (Read more)