Basements, parking lots or subways: which shelter will really protect you during shelling
14 July 18:09
The “two-wall” rule does not apply during shelling – a direct hit destroys an entire entrance, the SES said, adding that even basements cannot save people in case of a direct hit, as people are actually “hiding” under the building’s structures.
Therefore, the most reliable option is to go to a special shelter, parking lot or subway, even if it is far away, rescuers advise. Which shelter is the most reliable and what attacks it can withstand, asked
The “two walls” rule can be forgotten, the SES noted. In fact, this rule has never worked in the case of a direct missile hit. It only worked against fragments, warned Ukrainians a military and political observer of the Information Resistance group. The situation with Shahed 136 is a bit different.
“As long as their warhead was a classic high-explosive fragmentation type weighing about 40 kg, this rule was a stretch, but it worked. But when the Russian invaders began experimenting with warheads and the first thermobaric Shahids appeared (this is December 2023), the “two walls” proved to be useless. A thermobaric warhead is most dangerous in a confined space. A direct hit of a Shahed136 with such a warhead into an apartment creates a scorching vacuum. But when 90 kg warheads appeared, and this became an option for kamikaze drones from the beginning of 2025, the “two walls” rule does not work even for high-explosive warheads,” Kovalenko said on his Telegram page.
Thus, now the “two walls” rule does not work at all for any direct hit – from missiles to Shahed136, the expert concluded.
Strip clubs and warehouses as bomb shelters
And Ukrainians do not have a great choice of shelters. Back when the USSR was preparing for a nuclear war, bomb shelters were built – major underground structures made of reinforced concrete, designed to withstand nuclear, chemical, and biological threats. They were equipped with airtight doors, air filtration systems, water supply, toilets, food and water supplies, gas masks, and other necessities. They were usually located under industrial enterprises, administrative buildings, schools, and residential buildings.
The situation with real bomb shelters from the Cold War is very sad. Over the years of independence and disarmament after the transfer of nuclear weapons to Russia, they have been transformed into nightclubs, warehouses, restaurants, shops, and sports clubs. Only a few have survived; for example, in the Holosiivskyi district of the capital, a developer seized a plot of land with a bomb shelter, blocked the entrance and planned to build on it. Although the strip club that occupied the bomb shelter in the center promised to let the public in, locals say that during the alarm they are in no hurry to open the doors to the public. The entrance is paid, but during the alarm the club continues to work, and people are forced to look for another shelter.
The subway will protect you even from a nuclear explosion
The largest bomb shelter in Kyiv is the Kyiv subway, equipped with airtight seals on the overhead sections and many stations. They can be raised from below, lowered from above, or extended from the side – hidden from the eyes of passengers by metal plates. They are opened and closed from time to time during off-hours, only to test the mechanism.
The subway can serve as a shelter for 360,000 people at a time, according to civil defense officials. However, the time to fill it (from the “Attention all” signal to the closing of the airtight seals) is 10 minutes. The subway has boardwalks that are placed on the rails, and people can sleep on them. The calculation is 0.5 m² per person. However, you still have to get to the subway. And this defense will withstand a very serious attack: especially deep stations – there are even those 15 meters underground – will not withstand the Kinzhal and the like.
The basement will save you, but not from everything
Modern shelters in Ukraine, which appeared after 2022, are often adapted basements, parking lots, or mobile structures (concrete “capsules” or modules). The main purpose is to protect against artillery, air strikes and debris, but not against a nuclear attack. They can be without ventilation or a bathroom, but they try to provide the minimum: benches, water, communication, and a bucket for a toilet. The emphasis is on the speed of access and mass. “Bomb shelters were built for a long autonomous stay (several days or more). There were standards for air exchange, temperature, and sealing.
Radiation and gas filtration systems (FPU, PVF) were used. Modern shelters may have minimal equipment (lights, generators, sometimes WiFi). Air filtration is rare. Most of them are not designed for a long stay – a few hours. Shelters in the basements of residential buildings or institutions are not full-fledged bomb shelters, as in Soviet times, but they can save lives under certain threats,” says
Drones can survive, but not all missiles
Military and political observer Oleksandr Kovalenko emphasizes that the most reliable places for shelter are specialized bomb shelters and subways, followed by underground parking lots, and then basements. However, the problem is that we have few cities with subways, as well as specialized bomb shelters.
“And now about the relevance of basements. I’ll be honest: I was surprised by the way it was presented that they do not guarantee safety. If we talk about missile attacks, the most dangerous for conventional shelters (basements) are ballistic and aerial ballistic missiles 9M723 OTRK Iskander and X-47M2 Kinzhal, as well as cruise missiles X-22/32. They also include the P-800 Oniks, X-101, 3M14 Kalibr, and 3M22 Zircon, which are potentially dangerous. But their danger depends on the nuances, while there are no nuances with 9M723/X-47M2 and X-22/32,” the expert emphasizes.
Shahed 136 kamikaze drones do not pose a direct threat to basements. For most types of missiles and situations of missile terror, basements have been and remain a relevant shelter, and nothing fundamentally new has changed. Whatever the case, the basement remains a universal means of increasing the chances of survival.
Reference
By 2022, there were approximately 20,000 urban and dual-purpose shelters.
By the beginning of 2025, there were about 62,600-62,700.
Since 2022, about 42,000-43,000 structures have been built or repaired in the country.
In Kyiv in 2024, 1,105 shelters were repaired and 852 new ones were built.
Repair work on tens of thousands of facilities (capital and current) is also underway.
Author: Alla Dunina
