In Kharkiv, culture is a form of defence

It was a strange feeling to walk alone through eerie corridors in the basement of the Kharkiv Opera Theatre and suddenly hear a burst of music and applause. As Kharkiv faced the Russian advance, a Kyiv-based drama group had come to the city to hold an Art Fortress concert to raise the spirits of local residents. For the audience, mainly middle-aged women, this underground event was a welcome distraction from the encroaching reality. Many waved in time to the music, delighted by the performance, and chanted ‘Slava Ukraini’ as the closing remarks were made.

This support is vital as the city braces for what lies ahead. The latest Russian advance has brought them within 12 miles of Ukraine’s second-largest city. The relentless bombardment suggests a deliberate strategy to render Kharkiv uninhabitable. As explosions roar through the city centre in the afternoons, the residents wait them out in the metro, glued to their phones, seeking information about new launches and the aftermath of attacks. Emerging from Naukova metro station, next to a McDonald’s that has been closed since the invasion began and a large shopping centre, people hesitate at the exit, peering out to check it’s safe.

The caution is justified. As another missile is heard in the distance, first responders wearing helmets and body armour rush down into the metro – a necessary precaution after a series of Russian double-tap attacks. They run over shattered glass – the doors were blown out by the shock wave from a bomb that struck a nearby residential high-rise.

I meet one resident who is sheltering underground with her three children. The family spent the first three months of the war living in the metro, and the mother is scared about what is going to happen next, but she doesn’t have the money for them to leave the city, nor a place to go.