the underground life of the inhabitants of Kharkiv

In the neighborhood of Saltivka to Kharkiv (Ukraine), most of the buildings were hit by Russian strikes. Hundreds of facades are blackened by the fires, and as many apartments gutted. The dwellings are now uninhabitable. “I’m furious. How could I feel anything else? Do you hear those bombardments? We have to leave quickly”comments a man.

35 people in a basement

35 people have been living in a basement for a month. They did not flee the neighborhood, unlike the majority of the inhabitants. An 88-year-old woman has set up a space with her neighbor. “I survived the Second World War, and I will survive this one, she says. But I’m cold.” An invalid man lives in a corner of the basement. Further on, a little girl and her mother have set up an island of privacy. “When there are bombings, I’m scared, it’s hard to stay here”, confides the child. According to the town hall of Kharkiv, 1,400 buildings were affected by the Russian strikes, indicates the journalist Maryse Burgot, present on the spot.