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As Russia attacked Ukraine in January 2022, and residents took to Metro networks to shelter, it was eerily reminiscent of London during the second world war.
One of the ironies of the underground stations in cities like Kyiv and Kharkiv is that they were dug extra deep during Soviet times, in order to shelter citizens from would-be western bombs; now they're protecting them from Russian assaults.
Echoes of the Blitz: Underground shelters in Ukraine and London — on at London Transport Museum from 1 March 2024-spring 2025 — is an exhibition of 70 historical images, plus 38 contemporary photographs, exploring how denizens of cities have utilised subterranean transport networks as a form a protection.
More than that, these underground shelters have swiftly grown into makeshift homes, where residents do their sleeping, cooking, washing — even caring for pets.
Though sheltering in the Kyiv Metro peaked during the initial Russian invasion in February 2022, stations are still being used as bomb shelters now — as is the case with the Kharkiv Metro, situated closer to the Russian border.
Echoes of the Blitz has been created in partnership with n-ost, a Berlin-based journalistic network, which has previously displayed images of Ukrainian Metro stations, in Germany and the Czech Republic.
Echoes of the Blitz: Underground shelters in Ukraine and London, London Transport Museum, 1 March 2023-spring 2025. The exhibition is included with paid entry to London Transport Museum.
