In the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, a stronghold of Russia-backed separatists, at least 1,000 people are living in basements and other makeshift bomb shelters, according to humanitarian aid workers. RFE/RL Current Time photographer Petr Shelomovskiy visited one shelter in Donetsk's Petrovskiy district that houses 40 people, including 19 children, in a cramped subterranean space. (www.currenttime.tv)
Underground Life In A Donetsk Bomb Shelter
![A girl leaves the bomb shelter in the Petrovskiy district. Some residents have lived in the basement dwelling for nearly a year.](https://gdb.rferl.org/7c13ea42-5d23-4a3e-9fd1-3e6f060f3a66_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A girl leaves the bomb shelter in the Petrovskiy district. Some residents have lived in the basement dwelling for nearly a year.
![Forty people, including 19 children, live in the shelter. In spite of a cease-fire agreement that went into force in February, there has been little respite from the bombing and shelling that have ravaged Donetsk, and residents are afraid to sleep in their own homes at night.](https://gdb.rferl.org/cdec0e7f-8a94-477e-b9fc-7c747ed417f6_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Forty people, including 19 children, live in the shelter. In spite of a cease-fire agreement that went into force in February, there has been little respite from the bombing and shelling that have ravaged Donetsk, and residents are afraid to sleep in their own homes at night.
![Writing on the shelter's wall reads "We need peace."](https://gdb.rferl.org/bc63b1f6-03eb-4648-9bd2-d704016d82fc_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Writing on the shelter's wall reads "We need peace."
![Maria, 75, sits on her bed in the shelter.](https://gdb.rferl.org/25630c8d-a173-496b-bd0c-33085145afdf_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Maria, 75, sits on her bed in the shelter.
![Svetlana sits with her three children. The youngest is less than a year old.](https://gdb.rferl.org/6426f7d2-17dc-4b39-bee4-b686e5a9c50a_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Svetlana sits with her three children. The youngest is less than a year old.
![A little boy listens to music on a mobile phone.](https://gdb.rferl.org/0a66131c-91c0-4761-b57d-69b24e7069e4_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A little boy listens to music on a mobile phone.
![](https://gdb.rferl.org/119736b4-6585-4d97-9ded-15f3cfb795d0_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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![A girl watches Russian television.](https://gdb.rferl.org/1df9f8b4-14b6-41ec-81c0-718830418d45_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A girl watches Russian television.
![](https://gdb.rferl.org/897606e0-d569-4f97-a949-dd2891d0bb86_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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![Children ride a skateboard during the daytime, when parents let their kids leave the shelter and play outside.](https://gdb.rferl.org/01c5ba10-e475-477b-8d2a-2c3ee46e1526_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Children ride a skateboard during the daytime, when parents let their kids leave the shelter and play outside.