Russia-Ukraine war: What life inside a bomb bunker in Lviv is really like

As air raid sirens warn of a Russian missile attack, Ukrainians flee underground. This is what News Corp Australia’s Charles Miranda saw when he joined them. SEE THE VIDEO.

In the labyrinth basement of the simply named Number 5 High School, locals huddle as they wait for word from the cobbled streets above.

Lviv is Ukraine’s cultural capital, recognised on the UNESCO World Heritage List and famed for its gothic and European architecture, borne from countless conquests over the centuries.

Now its population and visitors cower in basements and cellars as air raid sirens shrill to warn of an overhead missile, armed drone or bomber and city street lights go out.

The nine-day-old war in Ukraine has seen the bombing of capital Kyiv and second city Kharkiv and bloody Russian forces’ stage repeated assaults on strategic port cities Mariupol and Odessa.

Now this spectacularly beautiful and historic city, that survived unscathed during World War 2, has evolved as a strategic target primarily since it has one of the last remaining airports and long runways in the country.

One of the lucky ones. A woman holds her child as she tries to board into a free train to Poland. Russian forces have taken over the Ukrainian city of Kherson. Picture: Daniel Leal

That has allowed it to be used as a flight corridor for NATO military aircraft to deliver vital goods and armaments to the city and through it other parts of the country for the war against Russia.

It is also home to several military bases and depots and more recently a critical rally point for military recruitment and deployments further afield.

Things changed in the past 48 hours with the discovery of a spy who had allegedly been noting the largely unmarked defence bases and other resources being stockpiled here.

The air raid sirens are not rehearsals but rather sparked by ever increasing air incursions from unknown sources.

Missiles fell outside the city earlier in the week but the uncertainty now is sparking fears of something big, presumably after Kyiv battle is resolved.

“This was not imagined a week ago and now mostly twice a day, sometimes three times we rush here and thanks to God, we are not yet being bombed but maybe soon,” says university student Aleksandr in the basement of the high school.

“On the streets everyone is tense, many people are from other cities fleeing the war but we all know it’s matter of time before we too are target.”

Air raid sirens across Lviv in Ukraine's west force it's citizens below ground. It's tense. They know they're next for Russian missiles. Picture: Charles Miranda

Residents bunkered down underground.

Star picket spikes and concrete bollard road blocks and checkpoints have been set up at intersections, there is a visible increased presence of troops and trucks on the street and long queues are forming at the doors of supermarkets, with already half empty shelves, as well as pharmacies and banks, many of which now no longer offer currency exchange.

Cars are only allowed to fill 20 litres each with critical fuel shortages, drained by the military.

Checkpoints at intersections into the city have created more than one hour’s worth of tail back delays anyway, both coming in and out of the city.

Residents are given little warning before forced to seek shelter. Picture: Charles Miranda

Sand bags propped up against building shopfronts offer little protection from Russian missiles. Picture: Dan Kitwood

On the streets people are super tense, just lifting an iPhone to shoulder level is met with abuse and or suspicion and the calling over of any nearby soldier to search the person with genuine suspicions they could be a spy tasked with pin drop mapping outside key resources for Russian missile targeting.

The sale of alcohol was banned in the city during certain hours, then on March 1 booze sales were outlawed altogether including at cafes, restaurants and hotels already hampered by curfews and martial law operating restrictions.

Men wait in line outside a gun shop in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv2, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Picture: Yuriy Dyachyshyn

More than a million people have fled Ukraine following Russia's large-scale assault on the country, with hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians passing through Lviv on their way to Poland. Picture: Dan Kitwood

“Our army is at war with the occupier, and air strikes are falling on our cities. We will celebrate after the victory!” Lviv Mayor Andrii Sadovyi said.

Yesterday non-essential shops were also closed and the city centre’s Museum of Ethnography and Historic Artefacts was being boarded up with steel blast plates and timber frames.

Large crowds were also forming outside gun shops after the military authorised the distribution on weapons to all civilians who register with them.

For now though, it’s a waiting game above and below ground.

In the Number 5 school bunker, children play games on their iPads, adults scroll through iPhones looking for the latest news, while others just slump against the cold exposed brick walls waiting for an all clear.

An official walks about with a small medical kit, presumably for use on those who may trip in the half gloom light of the tunnels more than any serious injury. There is also an equally small bottle of water and a radio playing urgent news.

Some people have brought their pets, restless and whining with being held on leads in the dark.

People are tired, anxious but primarily afraid.

There is a hushed tone as the strain to hear for a possible thud over the siren, then silence is punctured by laughter from a child watching a cartoon.

People smile at the innocence in the face of a circumstance and a war that a week ago would have been unimaginable.

Originally published as Russia-Ukraine war: What life inside a bomb bunker in Lviv is really like