Even as bombs fall on Ukraine, the kindness of strangers shines through

Civilians welcomed us to their place of shelter in the middle of the night, writes Bel Trew

My new friends in the basement of a Soviet-era building (Bel Trew)

We became friends because we randomly stumbled into their bomb shelter, in the middle of an air raid in the dead of the night.

Seconds before that, the sick-making sound of the siren had first wailed through the snow. We had just arrived in Khmelnytskyi, a city of 300,000 people, that has become a key gateway to the west of Ukraine for refugees, as it lies on a crossroads where the routes from the east, south and north collide. It too is under bombardment.

We were so disorientated on first arrival that when the siren rang, we used a crowd-sourced online map of bunkers – something that is literally saving lives in Ukraine – to find somewhere to hide. The nearest shelter turned out to be located in the basement of a Soviet-era apartment building.

We landed in a heap of bags, laptops and cameras on the dusty floor of a grubby cellar, where a dozen civilians were hiding with their children, their pets and some key belongings.

A teenage girl was comforting her rescue cat nuzzled into a backpack; an older woman was petting her beloved black spaniel on her lap. Two children, in sparkly bobble hats, were playing games on an iPad. In the back of the room on a fold-out deckchair, was a loquacious young man and artist, in Central Perk pyjamas who, as it turns out, is a bit of an Instagram star.

A teenage girl was comforting her rescue cat nuzzled into a backpack (Bel Trew)

They welcomed us, complete strangers, to their place of shelter in the middle of the night. And over the last few days, as we have repeatedly ran to their bunker at 3am, 5am or in the middle of the afternoon; they have become our friends.

During the sirens, when it is not safe to move above ground, I have come to love the welcome respite from the misery, the heartbreak, the gut-wrenching, senseless violence of war.

We sit and chat about the oddity of our rescue pets, why the UK keeps doing so badly in Eurovision and whether or not I sound like Adele. On one 3am dash to the shelter, when we had been up for nearly 20 hours working, I passed out on a pile of bricks covered in a carpet in the corner and a woman put a blanket over me to make sure I was warm.

On another trip, we swapped Instagram accounts and took selfies. In another we chatted away about relationships and boyfriends and Enrique Iglesias.

As a reporter, the stories that often get left out are of the ordinary people you meet along the way. The unfathomable kindness of strangers and the conversations and interactions you have with them are a beautiful, much-needed juxtaposition to the hell that is all around us.

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Back in western Lviv, a few days before, a family of four who were busy coordinating humanitarian supplies opened their homes to us so we could use their high-speed internet.

The two boys were busy playing a computer game, but as we left handed over a drawing they made for us of an airplane bearing the Ukrainian flag that had blue and yellow circles coming from it. The seven-year-old who drew it was keen to point out that blue and yellow dots were confetti. “With love from Ukraine,” the drawing read. “It’s so you remember us,” the family added.

A gift from a child: ‘With love from Ukraine’ (Bel Trew)

All war is horrific and this one Russia has unleashed so brutally on Ukraine is no exception. I’ve visited the hospitals, schools, and homes that have been bombed by Russia. Today, near Kyiv, humanitarian convoys and civilian escape routes were hit by mortars killing women and children. The relentless assault on and killing of civilians has seen the ICC open an investigation into possible war crimes.

I write these closing lines in a bomb shelter – a different shelter to our friends – as another air raid goes off. But again families, children and pets huddled in the corners welcome us to their hopeful patch of safety.

A little boy to my right is drawing a picture with crayons on the wall and in his colouring book. Two Scottie dogs in winter jackets are napping in the arms of their owners. This morning, when we were with our friends in the usual shelter in a different part of town, they joked that they would see us in London for a drink when this is all over.

If we make it, the Instagram star joked. The future looks so bleak here, and the day-to-day so grim, but despite this, the incredible kindness of strangers shines through.

The Independent has a proud history of campaigning for the rights of the most vulnerable, and we first ran our Refugees Welcome campaign during the war in Syria in 2015. Now, as we renew our campaign and launch this petition in the wake of the unfolding Ukrainian crisis, we are calling on the government to go further and faster to ensure help is delivered. To find out more about our Refugees Welcome campaign, click here. To sign the petition click here. If you would like to donate then please click here for our GoFundMe page.