Kyiv's Subway Turns Into Home for 4 Million

Subway stations in Kyiv now serve as sleeping quarters for thousands of residents.

With official shelters insufficient for the city's four million people, citizens lay out mattresses and small tents on the platforms from roughly 10 p.m. each night. Children sleep beside adults while pets settle against strangers along the cold walls. Halyna, a resident of the Lukyanivka district, holds her five-year-old son Roman in the station. She told Deutsche Welle that they are alive and have been lucky once again. Her district has been targeted repeatedly during the four years and eight months of the war. She takes her son to the nearest station on most evenings, even when no siren sounds.

The attacks have claimed young lives in central neighborhoods. In September, a Russian drone struck an apartment building in the Pechersk district. Fourteen-year-old Daniel Umanskyj was doing homework in his room when the building hit. Vlad, a neighbor who was in the hallway with his daughter at the time, said they were late that day, and that delay saved their lives. He described the attackers as sick monsters who do not care who they kill. Flowers now stand in front of the damaged building to mark Daniel's memory.

Schools have also faced direct hits, though teaching continues in person where possible. In early October, a drone struck a school in southwestern Kyiv. Principal Valentyna Chorna stated that the school keeps classes running because its large shelter holds more than 500 students, allowing grades one through nine to attend. A colleague at Deutsche Welle's Kyiv bureau noted the strain on parents who must work while children stay home during morning alarms. She described the risk of the walk to school near the Antonov aircraft factory, noting that an alert can start at any moment. Her own apartment was struck by a drone in September, though the building remained undamaged and her daughter was at school.

The toll on the city is rising sharply. Kyiv's military administration reports that 140 people were killed in the capital in the first eight months of 2026. That total already exceeds the 172 deaths recorded for all of 2025. If the current pace holds, 2026 will be the deadliest year for Kyiv since the full-scale invasion began in 2022.

Infrastructure damage is disrupting daily life. 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 temporarily paralyzed the subway. With energy infrastructure under fire, the city faces uncertainty about providing heat, electricity, and water this winter. The Kyiv International Institute of Sociology reported in early October that 72 percent of residents said in September they were ready to endure the war as long as necessary. Authorities have shortened the curfew to run from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. Some facilities may operate during yellow alerts, while people must take shelter immediately during red alerts, which signal ballistic or cruise missiles or large combined attacks.