Ukraine: in a shelter in the Kharkiv metro, puppets and poetry distract from the bombs

In a subway station transformed into a refuge in Kharkivin the northeast of Ukrainetwo puppeteers enact a fairy tale for a group of enthralled children.

With a cast of dolls including a mustachioed king and a herd of pigs, Oleksandra Shlikova and Anton Andriushchenko tell the story “Princesses Are Different”, delighting parents and children.

The fiction distracts them from the terrible reality, from the constant bombardments that fall on the surface on the city of Kharkiv As Russia escalates its offensive in eastern Ukraine.

Using the mobile phone’s sound system, the puppeteers elicit laughter from their audience sitting on stairs covered with cardboard to prevent the cold and humidity from soaking into their bodies.

“A live performance is always an emotion that is here and now,” says the 47-year-old Shlikova, concluding the show with a bow and inviting children to play with the puppets.

Children watch the performance of puppeteers Anton Andriushchenko and Oleksandra Shlykova. (Maryke VERMAAK / AFP) (MARYKE VERMAAK /)

“We exchange emotions and encourage the spirit. It’s hard to describe it, you have to feel it,” she adds.

– Underground shelters –

Deep underground, the metro stations of Kharkiv they are now home to residents of the eastern metropolis fearful of the battle raging above ground.

Since withdrawing troops from besieging kyiv, the Russian army has intensified attacks on Ukraine’s eastern flank, including Kharkivjust 21 km from the Russian border.

On Friday, a shelling of residential areas in the city killed 10 people. On Saturday, two more people lost their lives.

The corridors and platforms of subway stations look like homes full of mattresses, clothes, crockery and toiletries.

The immobilized wagons have been converted into makeshift houses, and aromas of cooking waft from each compartment.

Children watch the performance of puppeteers Anton Andriushchenko and Oleksandra Shlykova. (Maryke VERMAAK / AFP) (MARYKE VERMAAK /)

“When you see the show, you remember the stories and that changes the way you see the world,” says Oksana, 37, who came with her two daughters to see the puppets.

Oksana and her daughters live in another underground shelter nearby and came here to see the show.

“Truth and humor give you a boost and make you happy,” said Oksana, who preferred not to give her last name.

– Poetry in the bunker –

Across town, poems are recited in a white brick bunker that leads down some narrow stairs and past a ramshackle workshop.

The shelter is also filled with makeshift beds.

Serhiy Zhadan reads verses overlaid with melodic music in a soundproof chamber lit with purple neon.

A small crowd follows the reading, in which Zhadan delivers a surreal lyrical monologue detailing a variety of animals.

Zhadan describes the poem as a “brutal lullaby” based on a children’s book satire but full of profanity.

However, their goals are similar. “A person cannot live with war alone,” said Zhadan, a literary celebrity in Ukraine, a country with a great poetic tradition.

“It is very important for them to hear a word, to be able to sing, to be able to express a certain emotion,” he adds.

Source: Elcomercio