Conflict in Kyiv metro: residents clash over shelter space during shelling

In the early hours of June 2, Kyiv metro stations were packed with people seeking shelter from a massive bombardment.

Amid the shortage of space, a scandal erupted on social media over those who bring large tents into the metro.

The discussion unfolded on the social network Threads. Users report that some residents bring tents designed for 5–7 people, which remain half-empty, while others are forced to stand for hours.

“Residents of Kyiv’s Shevchenkivsky district, at Dorohozhychi metro station, are forced to stand in the metro for hours during large-scale shelling, trying to save themselves and their children. I personally went down into the metro for the first time in several years after the shelling of Lukyanivka! The war hasn’t united anyone at all — everyone showed up with tents the size of a house, took up a ton of space where more people could have sat and saved their lives! This world never ceases to amaze me,” wrote one Kyiv resident.

According to eyewitnesses, people at the station began demanding a ban on tents being brought inside. The conflict went beyond verbal arguments: one Threads user reported that a woman slashed a man’s tent because he had taken her regular spot, where four people had always sheltered before.

“People got into a fight in the shelter. What people are saying: rich tent-owners should be banned from the metro, a petition needs to be created, or they should let in at least 3 people, or get out,” another Threads user relayed.