. . . as Dasha, 8, hides underground

EYES tinged with sadness, Dasha Gopak cuddles her kitten Monika on the Kharkiv underground platform that she has called home for more than 11 weeks.

Much of Saltivka, a district of the northeastern Ukrainian city where eight-year-old Dasha lived with her family, has been laid to waste by Russian bombing.

Her school has been destroyed and unexploded bombs litter their neighbourhood. Dasha, her mother Jenya and Monika fled to the relative safety of the Studentska underground station when the Russians invaded on February 24. Initially, 1,400 crowded inside, but that number has dwindled to 300.

‘I feel safer here,’ says Dasha, showing her heart-rending drawing of Russian missiles heading towards the train on which she sleeps each night. ‘These are the bombs that came from the Russians.’

Psychologist Tatiana Plotnikova volunteers to provide counselling to the traumatised residents of this subterranean village. It was during one session with her that Dasha produced her drawing.

‘Dasha is extremely shy and has hardly smiled since she arrived here, but she says she will miss my lessons,’ says Tatiana. After recent Ukrainian successes against the invaders, the Gopaks have been told by Kharkiv authorities that they have been found a new place to live near Lviv in western Ukraine.

They may be spared the threat of physical injury, but the mental scars will be hard to heal.

‘Many of the children suffer from post-traumatic stress,’ says Tatiana.

‘They can become withdrawn, have nightmares or at times even show aggressive behaviour.’