Subway stations become makeshift homes as Kyiv endures record casualties

Subway stations in Kyiv now function as temporary housing for thousands of residents who lack adequate ground-level shelters. As Russian attacks on the capital intensify, daily life in the city of four million mirrors conditions on active front lines. Since approximately 10 p.m., citizens lay out mattresses and erect small tents along the cold walls of underground platforms. Children sleep beside adults, and pets rest next to their owners in the dimly lit corridors.

Halyna, a resident of the Lukyanivka district, holds her five-year-old son, Roman, near a station entrance. The district has faced repeated strikes during the four years and eight months of conflict. She takes her son to the nearest shelter most evenings, even when no siren sounds. “We're alive,” she said. “We've been lucky once again.”

The recent attacks have claimed young lives and disrupted educational routines. In September, a Russian drone struck an apartment building in the central Pechersk district. Fourteen-year-old Daniel Umanskyj was in his room doing homework when the impact occurred. Vlad, a neighbor who was in the hallway with his daughter, attributed their survival to being late that day. “These sick monsters don't care who they kill,” Vlad said. Flowers now mark the damaged building in Daniel's memory.

Schools in southwestern Kyiv have also come under fire. In early October, a drone hit a school building, although pupils and teachers were already in shelters. Principal Valentyna Chorna keeps classes in person for grades one through nine because the facility’s large shelter accommodates more than 500 students. Whether lessons proceed depends on shelter capacity and the duration of air raid sirens. If an alarm sounds in the morning while children are still home, they may miss school entirely.

Parents face difficult choices when working while children remain home alone. A colleague at Deutsche Welle’s Kyiv bureau, whose daughter attends school near the Antonov aircraft factory, described the strain of this situation. The walk to school remains risky because alerts can start at any moment. A drone struck her building in September, leaving the apartment undamaged while her daughter was at school.

Kyiv’s military administration reports that 140 people died in the capital during the first eight months of 2026. This total already exceeds the 172 recorded for all of 2025. If this pace continues, 2026 will become the deadliest year for Kyiv since the full-scale invasion began in 2022.

Strikes on warehouses have caused supermarket shortages not seen since the early months of the war. Emergency power outages returned at the end of September, and a Russian attack paralyzed the subway system. The city faces uncertainty regarding heat, electricity, and water reliability for the coming winter. The Kyiv International Institute of Sociology reported in early October that 72% of residents said in September they were ready to endure the war as long as necessary. Authorities have shortened the curfew to 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. and allow some facilities to operate during yellow alerts.

During red alerts, which signal ballistic or cruise missiles or large combined attacks, people must take shelter immediately. The city continues to balance emergency preparedness with an effort to preserve normal routines for its inhabitants.