Secrets of the 'Soviet war vaults' hidden in Metro stations deep below Kyiv

dailystar.co.uk:

Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened Ukraine – and the world – with nuclear weapons, as he bids to bring back the era of the Soviet Union.But it now appears that Soviet infrastructure could be saving the lives of thousands of innocent Ukrainians.In a tweet from Ukrainian front-line journalist Illia Ponomarenko, it is now clear that many of Kyiv's metro stations are actual nuclear war vaults.Posting a picture of one of the entrances from the Akademmistechko Station in the country's capital city, he tweeted: “In case you were interested, this is how a sealed subway station look like in Kyiv.“The Soviets designed them as potential nuclear war vaults.

Now our metro protects us form the new Soviets.”Mr Ponomarekno is the defence reporter with The Kyiv Independent newspaper.Around 47 of the city's 52 stations have features enabling them to be used as bomb shelters, and they have been used as such during the current invasion.The system is the oldest and largest underground network in the country, and has become the main source of protection as Russian bombs and missiles rain down on the country.The Arsenalna station, located in the Pecherskyi district is thought to be the safest station to go to, as it is the deepest of all of them.It goes down underground by around 346ft, or 105.5 metres.

It is within walking distance of the Central House of Officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and very close by to the Mariyinsky Palace, where the country's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy lives On Twitter, one user pointed out that the stations would actually protect from one of Putin's worst weapons.Klaus Botschen wrote: “I‘m a bit relieved because this should also protect against the thermobaric weapons.