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  • My bomb shelter is a bathroom floor
    For the past three years, I’ve spent many nights sleeping in the bathroom. That puts at least two walls between me and the street—thick walls, made of concrete and brick. I naively hope they’ll protect me from shrapnel if there’s an explosion nearby. I don’t even think about what would happen if a drone flew straight into my window. It’s a sort of fatalism. In case of a direct hit, there are too many factors you can’t predict. And if you can’t predict something—you try not to think about it.
     

My bomb shelter is a bathroom floor

5 juillet 2025 à 08:54

Russia attacks Ukrainian civilians

For the past three years, I’ve spent many nights sleeping in the bathroom. That puts at least two walls between me and the street—thick walls, made of concrete and brick. I naively hope they’ll protect me from shrapnel if there’s an explosion nearby.

I don’t even think about what would happen if a drone flew straight into my window. It’s a sort of fatalism. In case of a direct hit, there are too many factors you can’t predict. And if you can’t predict something—you try not to think about it.

I barely remember the time before the war anymore. And I’m not talking about 2022—I mean 2014. The war has been close one way or another all this time: funerals, hospitals, friends, fundraisers, work on the frontline, news from the occupied territories. Only a completely unempathetic fool can claim the war is far away and doesn’t really concern them.

In case you missed it: the war in Ukraine started in 2014, when Russians occupied Crimea. Sometimes I hear nonsense like “Well, that was a long time ago, what’s the difference now.” Huge difference. Occupied territories remain occupied even decades later.

Since 2022, Russia stopped pretending altogether and decided to wage full-scale war. So here you are, living in the capital of a country whose right to exist Russians completely reject, whose entire people’s existence they deny.

Russia missile strike Dnipro UKraine
A young woman sits on the ruins of her apartment in Dnipro, destroyed by a Russian missile. Apparently, she was hiding in the bathroom. Photo: Hromadske
AN elderly couple in Kyiv on the morning of 4 July 2025 after a massive Russian air attack. Photo: Kyiv DSNS
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Hours after Trump-Putin call, Russia attacks Kyiv with record 550 missiles and drones (updated)

Two beds, every night

Every night I prepare two beds: a regular one in the bedroom, and one in the bathroom, made of several sleeping pads and sleeping bags. Before going to sleep, you check the air raid map and make a decision.

Will you start the night in a normal bed, or is it better to go straight to the bathroom so you don’t end up running around the apartment in the middle of the night? You also bring your go-bag into the bathroom—tech, documents, first aid kit, flashlight. So that if something happens, everything is within reach.

Sometimes, if you don’t forget, you also bring a bottle of water. Since I’m tall, sleeping in the bathroom isn’t very comfortable. Despite its size, I still don’t fit on the floor.

та тут підвал дуже так собі історія й найближче укриття в 17 хвилинах)

тому в мене тут боковушка біля туалєта pic.twitter.com/S7IUfVcvhM

— пінгвін соціологічний (@hokage_penguin) July 3, 2025
Ukrainians share pictures of their nighttime arrangements during missile strikes

Reading the patterns

You learn to predict the attacks. If Russians attacked neighboring regions—Poltava or Cherkasy—for several nights in a row, that means you should expect an attack on Kyiv soon.

Several extremely loud explosions in Kyiv; several ballistic missile strikes reported

Ballistic missiles at Dnipro

Shahed kamikaze attack ongoing pic.twitter.com/Cenk7BcvBK

— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) June 5, 2025
Each night, the air alarm map of Ukraine turns red: Russians attack civilians sleeping in their beds

It’s easy to tell when drones are headed for Kyiv. If they are, they arrive early, while it’s still light out, and can come not just from Sumy Oblast, but also from Chernihiv. If you see that happening, you head straight to sleep in the bathroom.

If drones are only flying from Sumy Oblast, there’s a chance they’ll target somewhere else that night, and you might be able to sleep in a normal bed without interruption. But not always—there are different scenarios.

Around 100 Russian Shahed kamikaze heading west

Missile strikes on Ukraine expected closer to early morning

📷 InsiderUA/TG pic.twitter.com/mbqcCuJ4Ch

— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) June 28, 2025
Ukrainians are learning the patterns of Russia’s nighttime attacks on their cities

Just before dawn, you might jolt awake because ballistic missiles are flying toward Kyiv. Sometimes the air raid alert goes off at the same moment as the explosions, or just a minute or two before the strike. There’s no time to get to a shelter. Only the bathroom.

What sleep deprivation actually looks like

If you spend the whole night in the bathroom—it’s hard to call that real sleep. Your joints ache, no matter how many sleeping pads you lay down. The floor is never going to feel like a bed. And because of that damn joint pain, you can’t fall asleep.

But that’s not even the worst part. Aching joints are the least of your worries. When your windows rattle and your doors slam because something gets shot down nearby—it’s pretty hard to sleep. And if it’s a ballistic missile—the whole city hears it.

Russian drones attack on Kyiv UKrainian civilians
A Russian kamikaze drone struck a residential building in Kyiv. One man survived only because he was in the bathroom, protected from the impact by two walls. Photo: Nataliia Mazina/hromadske

Or you might wake up to a horrible buzzing right over your building. That’s a modified Iranian Shahed drone, which of course no one ever officially supplied to the Russians. Trust me—that’s not a sound you ever want to hear.

On nights like last night, the number of these drones can reach the hundreds. Literally. The monitoring channels even stop reporting which districts they’re flying over and how many—because there’s just no point. This shit is everywhere.

Then the reports start coming in about impacts. Every time, they’re somewhere near your friends or family. Because I have friends all over Kyiv. So you start messaging them, asking if they’re okay. You get nervous when they take too long to reply.

Від дитячої кімнати майже нічого не залишилося😰

Шахед розніс квартиру киянки в Оболонському районі. В момент удару вона разом з дитиною ховалася у ванній. pic.twitter.com/2qtQRvAvko

— Сергій Погребецький (@pogrebeckij) June 10, 2025
An apartment in Kyiv destroyed by a Russian Shahed. The mother and child were hiding in the bathroom

Morning after

By morning, the air raid alert is over. All in all, you got maybe three hours of sleep. That’s how it’s been for three years.

When you read articles about how sleep deprivation is a threat in wars between countries on another continent—you want to laugh hysterically. Because I know what that is. And I want to tell you that you get used to it too.

When you go outside in the morning—you see the coffee shop near your home is already open. The supermarket too. You get your coffee, buy cigarettes, and head to the metro.

You walk there angry and sleep-deprived. But alive. And not injured. And as awful as it sounds—you’re grateful for that. Because if you made it through the night, then today you can do something important. Someone else wasn’t as lucky.

People sit in cafés, eat croissants, drink their coffee. But before that, they might have spent the night in a metro station, an underground parking garage, or a basement. Or in the bathroom. This is now the fourth year. The war itself—the twelfth.

Russia attacks on Ukrainian civilians
Сhildren of a Ukrainian family sleep in the bathroom, sheltering from Russian night missile and drone attacks on civilians. Screenshot from Tiktok

What peace actually means

I’m not even going to try describing how people live in Kharkiv, Sumy, or Odesa. And especially Kherson, where Russians literally hunt people using FPV drones. That’s a whole different level of terror and trying to survive within it.

Human safari drones Kherson
Russia’s “drone safari” in Kherson

The UN confirmed what I saw in Kherson: Russia is hunting civilians for sport

That’s why any news about Putin’s so-called “desire for peace” makes us furious. We hear that damn “desire for peace” several times a week. And Kharkiv or Sumy—every single day. Russia has no desire for peace. So there won’t be any.

Putin only understands strength. That fact is as simple as two times two. But some people—some politicians—pretend things aren’t so black and white. Countries that once gave your country security guarantees can’t even close the skies over you.

They not only refuse to give you air defense missiles for free—they refuse to sell them. Ukrainians are very angry about that. Incredibly. Because they have every right to be. We’ve lived three years under full-scale war and nightly terror.

Learning how to live in full-scale war isn’t a skill anyone should ever have to acquire. I hope you never have to experience anything like this.

But here we go again:

Russia's attacks on civilians
Russian attack on Ukraine on 4 July. Screenshot from Alert app
Stas Kozliuk is a Ukrainian reporter and photojournalist.

Editor’s note. The opinions expressed in our Opinion section belong to their authors. Euromaidan Press’ editorial team may or may not share them.

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Russia maintains daily terror strikes on civilians amid stalled peace talks. Number of injured, killed only grows

26 juin 2025 à 10:47

A residential building in Bilozerske, Donetsk Oblast, damaged after a Russian drone attack on 26 June.

Russian forces continue their daily terror attacks on the frontline regions, causing civilian casualties and damaging or destroying homes, schools, and hospitals.

Russia maintains its ongoing pattern of strikes against Ukrainian civilian targets, including residential buildings and critical infrastructure, as part of what appears to be a strategy to disrupt daily life and weaken Ukrainian resolve during a period when diplomatic efforts have reached an impasse.

This comes as US President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy meet during the NATO summit in The Hague to discuss the war and Western support. While Zelenskyy presses on supplying more Patriot air-defense missile systems, even offering to buy them from the US, Trump, however, expresses caution about delivering them, citing their scarcity and US needs.  

On the night of 26 June, Russia launched deployed 41 Shahed strike drones and other unmanned aircraft, with Ukrainian air defenses intercepting 24 of them, according to Ukraine’s Air Forces.

Eight drones were destroyed by conventional weapons, while 16 others were either lost through location tracking or neutralized using electronic warfare systems. Despite the defensive efforts, enemy drones struck seven locations across Ukraine.

Russia hits residential building in Donetsk Oblast

The most severe incident occurred at 2:00 a.m. on 26 June in Bilozerske, Donetsk Oblast, where a Russian Geran-2 drone struck a five-story residential building, according to the Donetsk Oblast prosecutor’s office. The impact ignited a fire and wounded five civilians, including a teenager.

Medical personnel diagnosed the casualties with blast injuries, bruises, shrapnel wounds, closed fractures and abrasions, and all received medical treatment.

The attack damaged three apartment buildings and seven vehicles in the settlement.

A residential building in Bilozerske, Donetsk Oblast, damaged after a Russian drone attack on 26 June.
Photos: Donetsk Oblast prosecutor’s office

Shelling in frontline Kherson never stops

In Kherson, Russian forces shelled the Dniprovskyi district, injuring a 64-year-old woman whose condition medical officials characterized as light, according to the regional military administration.

https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1938244942599508093

Separate morning shelling in Kherson’s Korabelny district damaged a city council building, educational institutions and medical facilities.

Aftermath of the continuous Russian attacks on southern Kherson, 26 June.
Photos: Kherson military administration, SES of Ukraine
Russian strikes on civilian targets in Kherson destroy and damage many homes.
Photos: Kherson military administration

Kherson also experiences “drone safari” when the Russians hunt and attack civilians using drones that drop grenades, bombs, and antipersonnel landmines.

Russian drones terrorize Kherson civilians with “human safari”
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Russian drones terrorize Kherson civilians with “human safari”

Death toll from Dnipro attack climbs again

Meanwhile, casualty figures continued rising from a 24 June Russian missile attack on Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. The head of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast military administration announced that fatalities from the strikes had increased to 22 people, with 20 deaths in Dnipro city and two additional deaths in Samar.

The attack targeted infrastructure, educational and medical institutions, administrative buildings, emergency services facilities and a passenger train carrying over 500 people in Dnipro.

Dnipro mayor Borys Filatov described the assault as “probably one of the most brazen strikes” on the city during the full-scale war.

On 26 June, Russian forces also conducted sustained attacks on the Nikopol district of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, employing heavy artillery, FPV drones, and aerial munitions dropped from unmanned aircraft.

Russian forces targeted civilian infrastructure in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast on 26 June.
Photos: Dnipropetrovsk military administration

The attacks ignited a fire at a local cafe and caused damage to critical infrastructure, an industrial facility, three private residences, two farm buildings, and a vehicle. Explosions were also reported in the Dniprovskyi district, where damage occurred at a recreational area.

Despite the extensive property damage across both districts, authorities confirmed no civilian casualties resulted from the overnight attacks.

You could close this page. Or you could join our community and help us produce more materials like this. We keep our reporting open and accessible to everyone because we believe in the power of free information. This is why our small, cost-effective team depends on the support of readers like you to bring deliver timely news, quality analysis, and on-the-ground reports about Russia's war against Ukraine and Ukraine's struggle to build a democratic society. Become a patron or see other ways to support
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