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Ukrainian women are vlogging from their bunkers. This is what they're sharing.

Alina has an emergency backpack beside her bed with documents, money and a first aid kit ready to go. She sleeps fully dressed in case she hears an alarm. 

Valeria wakes up in her bomb shelter with her family before eating breakfast. Heading outside, she sees a local movie cinema has been destroyed in the recent attacks. 

They are just two of the women who have been sharing what life is like in Ukraine right now on TikTok. 

From underground shelters to destroyed city buildings and empty supermarket shelves, Ukrainians are using the social media platform to offer a glimpse of what life looks during a war that has devastated the country for the past two weeks.

Here's what they've shared. 

Life inside a bomb shelter.

Like many Ukrainians, photographer Valeria Shashenok has been sheltering in an under-ground bunker in the city of Chernihiv, where 47 civilians where reportedly killed in an airstrike last week. 

In videos posted to her 540 thousand TikTok followers, Valeria shares what a typical day looks like living in the bomb shelter with her family and pet dog, including what her mum has been cooking for meals.  

Actor Josh Gadd, who voiced the character of Olaf, also shared the clip on Twitter, writing, "My heart is overwhelmed. These poor children. These poor people. I want to hug and protect this and every other child in danger right now and I feel helpless."

Emergency bags are packed and ready to go. 

Ukrainians have shared videos of what they've packed inside their emergency bags if they need to seek shelter or flee the country. 

Women like Alina and TikTok user Dzvinka Hlibovytska have packed passports, a first aid kit and money among other essentials. 

@alina__volik

And this is nothing to what people are going through in other regions and cities… watch my inst stories alina__volik ‼️

♬ bringing the era back yall - chuuyas gf
@dzvnks This video is our way of coping. #thingsthatjustmakesense #ukraine #war #emergency #russianukrainianwar #stopputin #bunker #shelter ♬ original sound - Olivia

What Ukraine was like before and after Russia's invasion.

Other videos shared on TikTok offer a glimpse at what Ukraine looks like before and after the attacks which have reportedly destroyed buildings, shopping centres and a children's hospital in Mariupol. 

In a video shared by Alina, the snowy streets of Kyiv are filled with crowds and Christmas decorations before the invasion. 

"My lovely Kyiv, I don’t know if I see you like this again," she captioned the video. 

@alina__volik

My lovely Kyiv, I don’t know if I see you like this again 😞 watch my Instagram stories to see what it’s like to live in Ukraine 💔

♬ Cornfield Chase - Piano - Dorian Marko

It's a stark contrast to what TikTok user Marta Vasyuta shared in Kyiv this week which has been bombarded by air strikes.

@martavasyuta Help Ukraine🇺🇦 #ukraine ♬ original sound - Amour

In Chernihiv, it's a similar scene. 

@valerisssh Third Word War! Putin, thank u #ukraine #stopwar #russiastop ♬ Je te laisserai des mots - Patrick Watson
@valerisssh NATO, CLOSE THE SKY OVER UKRAINE! #ukraine #stopwar #nato ♬ Another Love - Tom Odell

Find out what you can do to help people in Ukraine here.

Feature Image: Tiktok@Valerisssh/@alina__volik

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Top Comments

gu3st 2 years ago 2 upvotes
Being torn from a first world existence to this? Unimaginable. 

Things like food supply are likely to only degrade further.

And we thought toilet paper famines and lockdown was bad...

brig 2 years ago
You need to talk about the russian prisoners taken by the ukrainiens. They are being looked after very well and they are asking their mothers to come and pick them up to take them back home
EXTRAORDINARY