WAlready at the beginning of the Ukraine war, civilians are increasingly seeking refuge from Russian air strikes, which are particularly aimed at the civilian infrastructure of the large cities. Since then, the Ukrainian metro has provided thousands of people with regular protection from bombs and missiles. Especially in the first months of the war, many had to wait for weeks in the subway tunnels before they dared to go back to the surface.
Shortly after the war began, the photos of overcrowded metro stations that grew into veritable tent cities and of inhabited subway cars in which families slept, cooked something to eat and played with their children, shaped the image of civil society gripped by the war Of Ukraine.
The photo exhibition “Next Station: Ukraine” in several Berlin underground stations shows that these pictures are still relevant and will become relevant again. On large-format images on billboards that are otherwise used commercially, the journalists’ network “n-ost” shows photos from the metro stations in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and Kharkiv, the country’s second largest city. Short captions provide information about the origin and context of the photos.
For three months since the beginning of the Russian invasion, the metro in Kharkiv served only as a shelter for the population. People lived on the platforms and in the subway cars. Kharkiv, April 2022.
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Image: Pavel Dorogoy
Some people prefer to remain permanently on the subway during Russian attacks. You never know how long it will be before the next missile or bomb hits. It can be four hours or five minutes. Kharkiv, May 2022.
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Image: Serhii Korovayny
A mother feeds her child. After the start of the Russian invasion, the Kharkiv subway repeatedly serves as a shelter where people can protect themselves from bombs and rocket attacks. Kharkiv, March 2022.
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Image: Maxim Dondyuk
Since the Russian attack, the Ukrainian subway stations have been used as shelters. Instead of delays, those seeking protection are informed over the loudspeakers that volunteers have arrived with food. Kharkiv, April 2022.
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Image: Pavel Dorogoy
6-year-old Maria sleeps on the floor of a subway car. Her family was afraid to return home because of the Russian attacks. That’s why they lived in the subway for weeks. Kyiv, April 2022.
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Image: Emile Ducke
The Kharkiv Classical Music Festival was canceled due to rocket attacks. Instead, these musicians played in a subway station for the people seeking shelter there. Kharkiv, March 2022.
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Image: Maxim Dondyuk
Window to everyday life in the subway
Ukrainian photographer Serhii Korovayny recalls one of his motifs, which shows a woman in a green jacket crouching in front of a subway barrier that serves as a drying rack in Kharkiv: “People had to live there for months while Russian artillery shelled their apartments destroyed on the surface. I remember the cold, damp air of the subway. People were coughing, especially children, it was terrible. People mostly acted annoyed when I approached them with the camera. During the first days of the war they looked everywhere for Russian saboteurs. So I had to be careful and patient. First of all, I explained to them that I am there to tell their story to the world. you believed me And I kept photographing them.”
The aim of the exhibition is to connect public space in Berlin with reality in Ukraine. “You stand in the Berlin subway and look through a window at the everyday life of the subway in Kyiv and Kharkiv, which is completely different,” says project manager Stefan Günther. The motifs do not show abstract destruction, but rather everyday motifs that convey emotions. For example, a picture by Ukrainian photographer Maxim Dondyuk also shows musicians performing a concert to entertain people and give them hope.
“Next Station: Ukraine” is a large-format photo exhibition as part of the “European Images” project of the journalist network “n-ost” with the support of the Berlin State Agency for Civic Education and until at least November 24th in the Berlin subway stations Rosenthaler Platz U8, Gesundbrunnen U8 and Möckernbrücke U7 can be seen.
