Valeria Shashenok, a Ukrainian photographer, is documenting her family’s experience from inside a bomb shelter amidRussia’s invasionof the country.
Since the war, Shashenok has shared a series of videos on TikTok, which show how her family is coping while, she says, they are hunkered down in the shelter, which is located Chernihiv.
TikTok
In a video posted on March 11, Shashenok demonstrates how she and her family made coffee during a power outage at the shelter. With limited resources, Shashenok adds ground coffee beans and water to what, appears to be a heat-proof cup, before lighting the container with a blow torch, which instantly creates the coffee. “I’m shocked, but it works!” Shashenok wrote over the clip.
Her account also chronicles the damage done to Ukraine. In a different video shared on March 4, Shashenok leaves the bunker to retrieve some items from her home, and while on the way, she shares footage of the country’s destruction.
Despite the heartache of war, Shashenok manages toincorporate humorin her TikTok videos, joking in one clip that the bomb shelter is like a “5 star hotel” and the bathroom area is a “place for reading books!”
Speaking on her decision to document her experience, Shashenok toldThe Cut: “I want to show what’s happening in my country… I’m that person who always ragged on everything with humor. It’s the best way to show people the problem. I’m that person who always sees light in the dark, and it’s a nice way to do something for my country.”
With NATO forces massing in the region around Ukraine, various countries have also pledged aid or military support to the resistance. Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyycalled for peace talks — so far unsuccessful — while urging his country to fight back.
Putin, 69, insists Ukraine has historic ties to Russia and he is acting in the best security interests of his country. Zelenskyy, 44, vowed not to bend. “Nobody is going to break us, we’re strong, we’re Ukrainians,“he told the European Unionin a speech in the early days of the fighting, adding, “Life will win over death. And light will win over darkness.”
source: people.com
