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© 2024 Maranie Staab
“We live in fear”.
In Derhachi, Ukraine, a town north of Kharkiv and near the Russian border, more than 60 people live in a large, concrete and windowless space.
Previously the basement of an office building, it was quickly converted to a bunker following Russia’s February 24, 2022 invasion.
Ludmilla and Slava, married 50 years, have spent every night for 3 months and 15 days in the space, sharing a makeshift bed constructed of pallet boards and foam padding. When ask the length of their time in the basement their answer comes without pause; like many Ukrainians they count the days that Russia has laid siege to their county, the number of months they’ve been displaced, the number of friends and relatives who have perished.
“At the beginning [of the war] we didn’t leave our bathroom for 3 weeks. I thought I might go crazy but outside of our flat there were explosions—I know too many people who did not survive.“
Those who live in the bunker have few other options; their homes have been bombed, leaving them damaged or destroyed. The streets are not safe, especially after dark. By day, residents of the basement spend time above ground tending to gardens, some look for work and others simply relish time outside of the dark, windowless concrete cellar that has been their home for months. Several times a week Ludmilla will go quickly to what remains of her home and feed her beloved pets and deliver food to neighbor who she explains is too traumatized to leave. “Everyday the missiles go in such kind of places as kindergartens, houses just for civilians and humanitarian aid center. There are no military objects nearby.”
Fewer than 4,000 people remain in Derachi, a town once home to more than 11,000. Derhachi Ukraine