See Life in Eastern Ukraine’s Underground Shelters

3 minute read

When photographer Ross McDonnell went to cover the ongoing Ukrainian crisis as a freelancer, he felt his photographs didn’t stand apart from the hundreds being produced in the region at that time.

“You are dealing with very intense circumstances and you come away from that feeling like you haven’t had [any] real connection to the people involved in these situations,” the Irish photographer tells TIME. “I wasn’t able to put my visual stamp or to escape the news cycle of what was happening there, so I wanted to go back and do something a bit more personal and be a bit more engaged.”

Although the violent turmoil in eastern Ukraine has eased, the Ukrainian Army and pro-Russian rebels continue to battle over areas in Donetsk, now the self-proclaimed independent state of Donetsk People’s Republic. As a result, people without the resources to leave the region are now living in a network of underground shelters to hide from the continuous shelling.

Many of these shelters were built during the Cold War era, when the eventuality of a nuclear fallout felt real, and when McDonnell heard about them, he saw an opportunity to reconnect with his subjects.

In October, he went back to the region, and by that time, the local population had gotten used to the in-and-out swarms of journalists. McDonnell stuck around. It wasn’t until after several visits that he “started to get a sense of who the characters were, what the dynamics was among the people, what you were dealing with in the shelter,” he says. “There’s [a] kind of community but it’s a forced community. Essentially nobody wants to be there.”

“All they can focus on at the moment is [their] immediate surroundings, feeding themselves every day,” he adds. “I guess that’s what the aesthetics of this series are meant to represent – the kind of very narrow world they are surrounded by.”

McDonnell also attempted to put himself in the position of his subjects, in a space still decorated with photographs of Soviet soldiers and artilleries from the the Cold War era. “To see in these paintings of the actual instruments of war that are being used outside and to see the iconography, this Soviet past surrounding them all the time, it’s psychologically very stressful for them,” he says.

Together, these bleak images capture an atmosphere that speaks of the people’s state of mind – trapped in the present, without any idea of what the future will bring.

Ross McDonnell is is a photographer and filmmaker born in Dublin. LightBox has previously featured McDonnell’s work on the Ukrainian protests, the ‘Auto Defensa’ anti-criminal uprisings in Mexico, Irish public housing projects and Enrique Metinides. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Mikko Takkunen, who edited this photo essay, is an Associate Photo Editor at TIME. Follow him on Twitter @photojournalism.

Ye Ming is a contributor to TIME LightBox. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

Next to a coal mine in the village of Trudovski in the embattled Donetsk region of Eastern Ukraine is a purpose-built nuclear fallout shelter built in 1974 to house residents in the event of atomic war. The shelter was never used until war erupted between Pro-Russian Separatists and the Ukrainian Army. Trudovski, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. Nov. 1, 2014.
Next to a coal mine in the village of Trudovski in the embattled Donetsk region of Eastern Ukraine is a purpose-built nuclear fallout shelter built in 1974 to house residents in the event of atomic war. The shelter was never used until war erupted between Pro-Russian Separatists and the Ukrainian Army. Trudovski, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. Nov. 1, 2014. Ross McDonnell
Notes from Underground
A heavy bomb door marks the entrance to the Trudovski shelter. Trudovski, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. Oct. 16, 2014. Ross McDonnell
Notes from Underground
Christina lives in the shelter in Trudovski with her 3-year-old daughter. Her girl’s father left to fight with the rebel army. Trudovski, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. Oct. 18, 2014. Ross McDonnell
Notes from Underground
A broken Orthodox icon. Trudovski, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. Oct. 21, 2014.Ross McDonnell
Notes from Underground
An image of a Grad missile system, frequently used by both the Ukrainian Army and the pro-Russian separatists during bombardments, is seen in the shelter. Trudovski, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. Nov. 1, 2014. Ross McDonnell
UKRAINE: NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND
Alexander is an elderly man living in the shelter with his sister and her family. Donetsk, Petrovsky District of Ukraine. Nov. 1, 2014. Ross McDonnell
Notes from Underground
A child sleeps during the afternoon in the Trudovski shelter. Trudovski, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. Oct. 18, 2014.Ross McDonnell
Notes from Underground
Valentina is seen through a chainlink fence in the shelter. They feel fortunate that power has been restored to the shelter in Kievski. There is no heat but they can boil water and have light. Donetsk, Kievski District, Ukraine. Oct. 20, 2014. Ross McDonnell
Notes from Underground
The shelter in Trudovski was built in the event of a nuclear fallout. It is emblazoned with Soviet military iconography like these portraits of Army soldiers and Navy sailors. Trudovski, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. Oct. 18, 2014. Ross McDonnell
Notes from Underground
Sasha has been living in the shelter for the last three months. Trudovski, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. Oct. 18, 2014.Ross McDonnell
Notes from Underground
Tanya and two other women are pictured where they sleep in the shelter. Days pass slowly and stress begins to affect the residents. Trudovski, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. Nov. 1, 2014. Ross McDonnell
Notes from Underground
Raisa, 8 years old, is seen in a bunker. Over 150 people live in a network of rooms underneath the town hall. Schools have stopped operating since the conflict began with several school buildings themselves becoming targets of shelling, although neither side has claimed responsibility for these strikes. Donetsk, Petrovsky District of Ukraine. Nov. 1, 2014. Ross McDonnell
Notes from Underground
Ludmila sits on a bunkbed in the shelter. She is fervently pro-Russian and like many elderly people now in Donetsk, she is nostalgic for the Soviet times, mostly because they have not received their pensions in months. Starting in November, President Poroshenko of Ukraine cut off all funds to separatist areas in Donetsk and Luhansk, further increasing the tension in the region. Donetsk, Kievski District, Ukraine. Oct. 20, 2014. Ross McDonnell
Notes from Underground
Tania Rabeka, 49, has been living in the shelter with her adult son Nikolai since July. Out of work for almost a year, she didn't have the money to leave the city when the shelling started. Trudovski, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. Nov. 1, 2014.Ross McDonnell
Notes from Underground
Image of a towel hangs in the Trudovski shelter. Trudovski, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. Oct. 18, 2014. Ross McDonnell
Notes from Underground
Aslanova is deaf and mute and lives with his wife, two of their grandchildren and their dog in the shelter in Trudovski. He rests in a mosquito net under images of foreign fighter planes that signs warn are responsible for potential attacks and a map of the Trudovski region. Trudovski, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. Oct. 31, 2014. Ross McDonnell
A portrait of Valentina is taken as we listened to shelling close to the shelter. The noise was actually the aftershock of a Tochka-U missile hitting a chemical plant some kilometers away sending a shockwave across much of the area. Donetsk, Kievski District, Ukraine. Oct. 20, 2014.
A portrait of Valentina is taken as we listened to shelling close to the shelter. The noise was actually the aftershock of a Tochka-U missile hitting a chemical plant some kilometers away sending a shockwave across much of the area. Donetsk, Kievski District, Ukraine. Oct. 20, 2014. Ross McDonnell
UKRAINE: NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND
Preserved fruits and a jar of flowers are seen in a hollow doubling as a pantry in the Petrovsky district shelter, located under the Town Hall in the village. As winter approaches, many of the residents are willing an end to the conflict so they can return home. Donetsk. Petrovsky District, Ukraine. Nov. 1, 2014. Ross McDonnell

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