In Ukraine, turning air raid sirens into music : NPR

KYIV, Ukraine — Air raid sirens warning of Russian attacks are a constant in Ukraine. Thousands of the alarms have presaged Russian air strikes over the past two years. Some Ukrainians still take cover whenever they can. Others largely ignore them.

One of those sirens began to wail recently as a 28-year-old singer, Diana Oganesyan, was walking late at night in the capital Kyiv.

“I was on my way home from my friend’s birthday. The air siren just caught me in the middle of the street when there were no shelters nearby,” Oganesyan said. “So I was kind of stuck there.”

As a singer, she did what came naturally. She began to harmonize with the siren and recorded herself on her phone. When she posted it on social media, it went viral.

“I didn’t expect it to get so much attention,” she said. “Of course, I’m not happy that [air strikes are] happening, but I’m glad that my voice and the power of social media are bringing attention to the war in Ukraine.”

She says her small act reflects the resilience of Ukrainians.

“No matter what’s happening, life has never stopped,” she explained. “We’re making art. We open businesses. Guys are opening restaurants now, making festivals, drawing flowers around the holes from the bullets. This is what we do.”

When Russia launches major airstrikes, as it has recently, some residents in Kyiv and other large cities with subway systems will go underground and wait out the assault. Occasionally, they spontaneously break into song, as they did here in Kyiv, expressing their love for the city.

In addition to the actual siren, Ukraine’s government created the Air Alert app that offers its own warning on cellphones.

“Attention! Increased air threat in your area! Please proceed to the nearest shelter,” it says.

A Ukrainian government app provides regular updates on Russian air raids.

Hanna Palamarenko/NPR

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Hanna Palamarenko/NPR

So how are Ukrainians coping?

“Previously, we always tried to find a bomb shelter,” said Olexander Velhus, a 27-year-old technology worker.

Like most Ukrainians, he said he took the sirens very seriously when the Russian airstrikes began nationwide with the full-scale invasion in February 2022. That often meant getting out of bed on a freezing night and walking with his girlfriend 100 yards to an office building with a secure basement.

How do they respond now?

“We just accept our fate,” he said with a chuckle.

A billboard in Kyiv directs people to the nearest air raid shelter.

Greg Myre/NPR

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Greg Myre/NPR

Russian airstrikes can last for hours, and come most frequently during the night. The initial siren often means Ukraine has detected Russian warplanes, likely armed with long-range missiles, taking off hundreds of miles away, deep inside Russia.

After 15 minutes or so, the phone app usually provides an update. It can be an “all clear” for your area — or an ominous notice saying your region is a target.

Then, another half-hour can pass before you hear window-shaking booms as Ukrainian air defenses launch missiles at the incoming Russian weapons.

“Basically, we wake up when we hear explosions,” said Velhus. “Then we decide whether we want to go to the shelter or not.”

He’s in Kyiv, where air defenses are extremely good. The shootdown rate is over 90%. But other parts of Ukraine are much more vulnerable, particularly in the east and the south, near the front lines.

The singer, Diana Oganesyan, now divides her time between Kyiv and London. She still performs in Ukraine’s capital under her stage name Melancholydi.

“We’re still making music, we’re still making art,” she said. “It doesn’t mean it’s easy. The conditions are worse, but they still do it because we are Ukrainians. That’s what we do.”