Enlarge this imageA woman walks through the Oleksiivska station in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Thousands of residents have been sheltering in the city’s subway stations, but the mayor says it’s safe to emerge now that Ru sian forces are retreating.Jason Beaubien/NPR hide captiontoggle captionJason Beaubien/NPR A woman walks through the Oleksiivska station in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Thousands of residents have been sheltering in the city’s subway stations, but the mayor says it’s safe to emerge now that Ru sian forces are retreating.Jason Beaubien/NPR KHARKIV, Ukraine The mayor of Kharkiv, Ukraine is asking residents to move out of the city’s underground subway stations, where thousands of people have been taking shelter since the start of Ru sia’s invasion in February. Ukraine invasion explained People are picking up the pieces around Kharkiv after liberation by Ukrainian forces Mayor Ihor Terekhov said Thursday that the city is now safe George Foster Jersey enough for residents to leave the metro stations, and that hostel rooms will be offered to anyone who needs one.Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, came under heavy shelling early in the war as Ru sian forces attempted to encircle it. But Ukrainian forces have been gaining ground around Kharkiv in recent days. As of Monday they had pushed Ru sian forces back to within two miles of the Ru sian border, according to a senior U.S. defense official.Enlarge this imageMany of the Kharkiv’s city buses and trams were damaged by Ru sian shelling, and replacement gla s is hard to come by.Jason Beaubien/NPRhide captiontoggle captionJason Beaubien/NPRMany of the Kharkiv’s city buses and trams were damaged by Ru sian shelling, and replacement gla s is hard to come by.Jason Beaubien/NPRSome shells continue to hit the edges of the city, but the mayor says the situation is far better than it was even a couple of weeks ago. Far more people are out on the streets, and buses and trams are now running again for the first time since the invasion. Due to the rapidly improving security situation in the city, Terekhov declared that he is restarting four light rail lines, eight trolley buses and 25 bus routes. Ukraine invasion explained U2′ Scott Feldman Jersey s Bono and the Edge held a concert in a Kyiv subway station in support of Ukraine Many of the buses and trams were damaged by Ru sian shelling, and because of a shortage of replacement gla s, some of the vehicles are out on the streets with plywood covering their windows. Beznikov Valeriy, waiting at a bus stop in the center of the city, says the return of the buses is a beautiful sight. After weeks of getting pounded by Ru sian attacks, he says ordinary life is now able to resume in Kharkiv. “It’s much much safer,” he said through a translator. “It actually feels good here now.” Enlarge this imageArtem Omelechenko, 26, and Nastya Lukashova, 23, have been living inside a rail car in the Zahkysynkiv Ukrainy station in the Kharkiv metro. They say they covered the car’s windows because the platform’s lights stay on 24/7.Jason Beaubien/NPRhide captiontoggle captionJason Beaubien/NPRArtem Omelechenko, 26, and Nastya Lukashova, Joe Morgan Jersey 23, have been living inside a rail car in the Zahkysynkiv Ukrainy station in the Kharkiv metro. They say they covered the car’s windows because the platform’s lights stay on 24/7.Jason Beaubien/NPRBut the mood in the heavily bombarded city isn’t entirely celebratory, and Kharkiv’s metro stations have remained packed with people sleeping on the platforms and inside rail cars.Some lost their homes to shelling. Others are too afraid to go home, either out of disbelief that attacks on Kharkiv finally have slowed or concern that they could pick back up again.But as part of restarting life, the mayor says, it’s time for the subway to resume normal operations too.Enlarge this imageLaura Sakolova, 75, poses with her dog, Mafia, in the Oleksiivska station, where she lives with one of her grandsons. Sakolova Matt Harvey Jersey ‘s daughter and youngest grandchild recently moved out of the metro because the toddler developed persistent eye infections.Jason Beaubien/NPRhide captiontoggle captionJason Beaubien/NPRLaura Sakolova, 75, poses with her dog, Mafia, in the Oleksiivska station, where she lives with one of her grandsons. Sakolova’s daughter and youngest grandchild recently moved out of the metro because the toddler developed persistent eye infections.Jason Beaubien/NPR
