Things that just make sense in a bomb shelter

The Story behind 50 million TikTok Views"When Russia invaded my country, Ukraine, my parents, my dog and I fled to a bomb shelter that seemed more than bizarre to me. And because there was WiFi and the days were damn long and also boring, I posted videos to introduce my new home – some of them even went around the world. But my story is actually quite different: It's that of a young girl full of big dreams, who wanted to discover the world and thought war was a bad joke. Until the day I realised I was in the middle of the biggest nightmare of my life."

Valeria decided to show the world her hometown Chernihiv and tell the real stories – images and events which none of us could have imagined could have taken place in the 21st century in the middle of Europe.
And the horror does not end with her escape to Milan. Once there, Putin's bombs catch up with her and hit her right in the heart of her family. This is her story of bombs, evacuation, live, death and things that only make sense if you have to live in a bomb shelter.
"It is horrible when you hear bombs, but you can't do anything – you are just a toy."

Valeria Shashenok was born in 2001 in Chernihiv, a city north of Kiev in northern Ukraine, where her parents still live today. Before the war, she pursued her passion as a freelance photographer. Meanwhile, one of her videos has more than 50 million TikTok views – her videos and messages go around the world.

When the attacks on Ukraine began on 24 February 2022, she documented the harrowing events that war brings on her TikTok and Instagram accounts. With images of brutal devastation, ironic commentary and a very personal perspective, her work reaches millions of people. She likes black humour a lot; it helps her get through these absurd times.

She says: "I remember the smell exactly when we reached the station. It smelled of people, of food and of unhappiness. It's hard to describe it all, it was just awful."

Valeria Shashenok fled by train to Poland, then by bus to Berlin and finally to Italy, where she now lives as a war refugee. It is important to her that everyone learns about what happened to her: "Because this war has become a terrible reality for me. It is absurd, it is surreal, and death is happening right now and no one can change it."