Ukrainians are worried about the state of their bomb shelters

Russia fired more than 576 missiles and drones against Ukraine last month; Kyiv was shelled two days in three. Ukrainian air defence works smoothly, shooting down nearly 90 per cent of missiles – but even a successful intercept can lead to debris, causing death. This happened yesterday, in a case that is causing a national scandal.

As the siren sounded over Kyiv, a man, his wife and his daughter headed with their neighbours to their shelter in Desnianskyi district – only to find it locked. The man, known as Yaroslav, ran to find someone to open it up. ‘People knocked and knocked again for a very long time. And no one [opened the door],’ he said, ‘and at that moment, the debris [of the missile] fell.’ That debris killed Yaroslav’s wife and two others, including a child. His daughter survived. This case has been given national coverage as this is a common problem in Ukraine: hundreds of bomb shelters exist only in name, or are kept locked or are unusable.