As the situation on the Ukraine border continues to intensify, many Kyiv residents are taking time to locate the nearest bomb shelter — only to discover they double as entertainment venues.
Since the Soviet Union’s collapse, many of the city’s fallout shelters have been reborn as various commercial enterprises, from cocktail bars and restaurants to a strip club. Staff at the ventures say that, should it become necessary for city residents to take shelter there, they’re more than ready to offer protection in a comfortable setting.
“What’s a better place to be than here if there is a war?” a bartender at Kyiv’s Parovoz, a speakeasy bar located in a shelter beneath a movie theater, told BuzzFeed News.
Other workers have expressed similar sentiments at the very real possibility of soon needing to open their doors not to paying customers but residents seeking refuge.
Karina, the manager of Podshoffe, a restaurant located in a bomb shelter on Pushkinska Street, told the publication she was not only certain that the eatery would promise safety to any who sought shelter from shelling there — but also that those individuals would eat well during their stay.
Perhaps the most extreme reuse of a bomb shelter BuzzFeed found was Penthouse, a bomb shelter strip club which made heavy use of red lights and velour in its interior decoration.
“They will get a good show,” a club security guard told the outlet of anyone who comes to Penthouse to stay safe. The club, he said, will fit as many people inside that can fit in case of Russian bombing.
Although not as colorful as a penthouse or speakeasy, Kyiv’s subway stations also double as bomb shelters, and many citizens will likely shelter there should the worse come to pass.
In total Kyiv has 4,500 bomb shelters, some in better shape than others.
A map of all of them has been viewed more than 2 million times.
