Infobae in Kharkov: homework, games, dances and even children's birthdays in the metro stations under the bombs

On February 24, 2022 hundreds of thousands of children knew what it was like to flee a bombing. From then to today, more than a million and a half learned what it is like to leave the country, to become refugees. Thousands of others are still in their cities, dealing in their own way with war, discovering what it is.

In Kharkiv, hundreds of boys and girls have been living in different metro stations for more than a month. Underground, life seems a little less dangerous, but depending on the station you get, you just need to get a little closer to the exit of the station to hear the bombings. When they do, they quickly return to the darkness of the platform. Except for some, who like so many other Ukrainians got used to the curtain of permanent explosions.

- Do you know what's going on?

Kathuya is 14 years old, the shyness of a teenage girl who is not sure of her words, the childish and nervous smile.

“It's a war because people are dying,” he says.

Kathya has been living in the metro station below the stadium of Metalist, the most important football club in Kharkov for a month. His house is a ten-minute walk away. She is lucky: several of her friends from school are living there with her, in the same station. There are also his parents and uncles, but not his grandparents. “They're what I miss the most,” he says. They stayed in the house because they said they were not going to surrender to Putin.

Staying on the subway, of course, is not giving up. It is, in fact, to resist as close as possible. Those who are here are the ones who do not want to leave the city but do not want to be exposed to a missile exploding in the room. It's not an entirely remote possibility: one of Kathya's friends is Tatyana, she is 15 years old and she can't go home because she was in fact devastated by an air raid.

Together with their parents - Sergei and Svetana - they live on the side of the track where there is no wagon, leaning against the wall of the stairs. They put a big rug on the floor and spend many hours sitting there with Jessica, their dog. Serguei shows an image of his building on his cell phone. It is a gray mole with a black spot in the middle, in the Saltvka neighborhood, the most punished in Kharkiv. The black spot, he says, is just his apartment, the exact place where the missile hit. They weren't there, the first day they had settled in the subway for safety. The decision saved their lives.

On the other side of the platform there is a stopped train. The city authorities distribute different carriages around the stations so that there are more places to live. Within the formation everything is even darker because the trains don't have electricity. The seats are used as bed and window frames as shelves where to put shampoo, toothbrush, soap. In the first car there are six balloons stuck against the roof. A week ago it was Kathya's birthday and they celebrated it in there.

Nastya is in charge of recreation and study of the boys at the Sportyvna station. He is 33 years old and has also been living there since day one with his daughters. Although his house is a five-minute walk away, he says it was never because he is afraid to go out.

-Who is more afraid: the boys or you?

-Me, no doubt. The boys are happy. We parents try to cut off the negative information, and they're not out there so they don't listen to the shootings and the bombings, so we adults are more worried than they are.

Her favorite activity is dancing. I don't know if she does it for her or for them, but as soon as I entered the station it's the first thing I saw: she dancing with six teenagers, making steps as if they were in a TikTok video. “Games distract them, distract us, and also sing songs. We do our best to get away from all this,” he says.

Like her, there is one responsible for the education and recreation of children for each metro station. Not all of them live at the station assigned to them, but they go every day so that the boys have a reference person. It is part of a social and psychological support project for children and adolescents who are living in underground shelters (metro stations and parking lots). The project was initiated by the Ukrainian NGO Fund Professional Development in Kharkiv and is supported by UNICEF Ukraine. It aims to provide psychological and educational assistance to minors who are being victims of Russian military aggression.

The first step was to equip the shelters with play and learning areas, and then assign volunteers, psychologists, artists and youth workers to provide regular classes at each location. Marina Ladyzhenska is the project coordinator. “These people have lived here since February 24, with their parents, with their pets. And every day they have a moment of education and recreation with a volunteer at every station,” he says.

- What did you learn from the boys at this time?

-Looking at them I feel that everything will be fine, that the victory will be soon. And I hope you can have a bright and happy future. They are so enthusiastic in their daily routine that I feel that, even in these conditions, they can keep their childhood safe.

They look happy now, are they suffering the war or do they not realize it?

- I think so, because everyone left their homes, their toys, their books, their computers, their classes... And although we are trying to create something similar to the life they had before in the subway, I think they are still suffering. They miss their homes, their lives, and that's why we give them psychological support and we have private sessions with each boy. I hope these activities will help them and minimize their stress and the pain they are now feeling.

- Do you understand what this war is about?

- I think you understand. If you look at his drawings, they clearly understand who Putin is and what Russia is doing in our country. They believe in the Ukrainian army and know who is who. I think so, they understand.

At Heroiv Pratsi station the situation is worse because it is the Metro in the Saltvka district, so there are many more people settled there. Life in there is a story in itself, a separate chapter of this war, but there are children there too and there are volunteers trying to give them a childhood. The manager there is Yana, a 29-year-old psychologist who stayed in Kharkiv with her husband and goes to the station every day to work with the boys. She doesn't want to leave her house, although her new “students” tell her to stay there living with her. Every day, when he arrives, a voice announces on the station's loudspeaker that the activity for children begins in the middle of the platform, where they have a play area installed.

The boys run from the stalls of their families to the center to meet Yana and draw or play Twister. They all seem to be amused by the camera, and they stand next to it and say hello. Kiril is 13 years old and is alone with his sister Milana, age 3. Her parents left early today to cook in the apartment and come back with several meals for the next few days. Kiril looks serious, a little worried, not as young as his peers. He seems to understand the bitterness of all this more, and he has a little dark circles. Yana invites him to the activity, and he comes over and sits there, but he doesn't say much.

The other boys tell where the rest of their family is. “My sister in the United States and my brother in another city in Ukraine,” says one. “My parents here,” says one girl. “My sister in Kiev,” says another. “My parents there,” says one boy, and points to a corner with a mattress on the floor.

There are many metro children in Kharkiv, and they have been living underground for a month. Many of them haven't seen the sunlight for days because when the bombings get intense, their parents won't even let them look out on the stairs. When he is calm, on the other hand, they are seen wandering from here to there alone, and they play around until they get dizzy. Sometimes, too, to sing songs. Before I leave I register one. The lyrics read:

“My name is Homeland/light wing of the stork/ My name is Ukraine/ And the warmth of the sun/ Papa's words: Ukraine is me! /Mother's songs, Ukraine is you!”

They sing with a flag in their hands. They sing and outside the war is still ringing. It's real life that's up to them. Someday we'll read your diaries, too.

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