At this appointment with stories from the war zones of Ukraine we didn’t want to move much. We stayed in the capital. Our correspondent Bogdana visited one of the most famous bars in the city: “Bimbo Kaba & More”. For friends known simply as “the kid”.
A place that before the war was also known and appreciated by European tourists. The restaurant has two locations: The main location is in the former nightlife district.
Here Bogdana met the three guys who work there. You are about twenty years old, like many men. Like those who work in bars, cafes and pubs in our country. Except that bombs began to fall near them on a day like any other.
The three boys are Anya 22 years old, Daryna 21 years old and Daniele 24 years old, we have collected their stories where they relive February 24th, 2022 and how that day changed their life until today.
Anya Snitkina is 22 years old and comes from Poltava Oblast, she has been living in Kiev for five years. She has been working at the “Bimbo” for around three years and has essentially been appointed manager since the beginning of the conflict. Before this promotion, while still on the team, she worked as a bartender and waitress.
“The period before the events of February 24 – says Anya – is certainly the most comfortable for our cafeteria. In winter, the “Bimbo” acquires a special, magical, very family atmosphere. There are fewer customers and those who come to themselves warm up with a cup of tea, chat over a cup of coffee, listen to good music.
I often heard my colleagues talk about a possible Russian offensive, but personally I was very skeptical, yes, I always told them not to talk about certain things, which creates unnecessary tension, especially within the bar walls. “
Unfortunately, on February 24, 2022, what Anya’s colleagues talked about will become a reality.
“That day – says Anya – the explosions didn’t wake me up. I had worked late and slept soundly, unlike my colleagues who live in Obolon, a neighborhood north of Kiev. Yes, they were awakened by those terrible explosions. Everyone who was awakened by the explosions immediately started writing in chats and social networks, trying to get answers and, above all, wondering what to do and where to go.
I woke up much later and remember that the first thing that drew my attention to what was happening was a post on Instagram by a friend of mine listing the location of the bomb shelters in Kiev.
I felt like laughing at that moment, even thinking about the speeches I had heard from colleagues, then as I continued to scroll through the posts, I stopped laughing. I understood what was really happening and nothing was more fun, just a strong fear and feeling like I was still in a dream, a bad dream, with the only desire to wake up.
After the moment of disbelief, reason prevails in her, she tells us that she went out to stock up, mainly water and above all to actually understand the situation, to breathe and understand the atmosphere, a tour of the neighborhood also in order not to succumb to the general panic.
“Everything seemed calm – says Anya – and the “Bimbo” opened anyway, like in the days before. The customers inside were silent, someone sipped their tea, someone else came to take home a piece of their favorite cake. The situation was more surreal than stressful. Eventually the owner of both of our premises came to tell us that from that moment it would have to close indefinitely to seek safe locations and that we could take home any produce or food from the premises.
At that time, my colleagues and I were amazed, it seemed to us that we had made the wrong decision, there were still customers in the restaurant who consumed as they do every day. But that was the owner’s decision, so we closed the place.”
Once the restaurant is closed, the boys decide to face the situation by working together as a group, all living in the same apartment to gather courage and not to be alone but also to help each other with the difficulty of getting groceries and Finding basic necessities, trying to find essentials by risking standing in the middle of the street during an air raid alert, all by 5pm, the time when the curfew began.
“The most difficult moment was at night – says Anya – being able to stay calm while listening to the sounds of explosions. The days were harder to deal with. A ton of messages that you didn’t have time to filter, a general depressed mood, and daily tears from each of us at the awareness that our calm and sense of security had been taken away from us.”
There are many fears and not only because of the bombs, all commercial activities have been closed, especially the restaurants, consequently the fear of running out of money, of having no salary.
“We should have been more careful”says Anya, “we made lists that minimized products, we ate less in general, we tried to have a full meal once a day and tried to set aside something for snacks.”
At that time, Ukraine experienced a dissonant, almost surreal moment, while in Kiev shops, pharmacies and bars were closed, in Lviv people lived normal lives, people shopped, went to the bar to have breakfast as if life would be normal in Turin while we lived in bomb shelters in Florence.
However, for Anya the situation does not last long, this atmosphere in which everything seems to have stopped “waiting for better days”, which, by the way, it is not known whether there will be any, is tight for her.
“I wanted to live now,” he says, “so I made the decision to try reopening the Bimbo. I went to the owner and asked him if I could try it, it was already mid-March. Among other things, I lived close to the club, so I didn’t even have to use public transport, which didn’t work at the time. He accepted my idea and gave me the opportunity to try it by making me manager of the club. We still had a few supplies of coffee, milk and cocoa left, we decided to start with what we had. At that moment they didn’t count the money and the income, the main thing is to be there if someone could pay, fine, otherwise we would pay. It was important that everyone is alive and, above all, is there.”
“Even our customers came in the same mood – Anya continues – of course there were very few at first, but they saw their almost incredulous looks when they were told that not only do we have regular milk, but that we can make coffee With lactose free milk or plant based it was beautiful. Giving them a sense of normality was good for them and it made us both happy too. If we wanted to offer someone something, people not only refused, but also left a tip. We launched the suspended coffee campaign: every guest could pay for coffee for a soldier or for a person who couldn’t afford it at the time, we also tried to help, for example by buying sweets in a confectionery that like we was . As we tried to restart, we also started to lend a hand as volunteers, making our kitchens available and making coffee for the soldiers on duty and certainly for those who needed it. Every day more and more customers came and we came alive again. And I don’t mean from an economic point of view, I’m talking about our morale”.
The work team is slowly forming, those who have gone abroad or temporarily moved to less dangerous areas are returning. The flow of customers is almost back to normal as it was before the start of the war and people seem to be adapting to these new living conditions. With a few precautions and, above all, adaptation, one tries to lead an almost normal life.
“Initially – says Anya – we decided to stay open even during the air raid, even though it was quite dangerous. One day there was a bomb blast and another coffee shop a few blocks away from us was hit, the chances of it happening to us were very high. After the massive bombing of October 10th we still decided to close during the air raids.
We had adapted to the situation and gradually adapted to the changing scenarios. For example, we had customized the closet with pillows, a TV, the need to make coffee and some food, a temporary sanctuary in case of air raids. Just as we adapted when the blackouts began. The lack of light completely paralyzes the work of a cafe. We lit at least 30% of the square with candles, also to show from the outside that we are open and have developed our creativity. We started making filter coffee, we bought thermos flasks to keep a few drinks warm, also because you never knew when a power outage would come and how long it would last. Over time, we improved these “logistics” and got used to these constant inconveniences. We had to keep going, we had to persevere. We bought a power generator and joked among ourselves: what kind of bartender are you if you’ve never started a generator? What kind of bar manager are you if you’ve never poured gasoline from a can into a generator? What kind of bar owner are you if you’ve never changed the oil in your generator? We were able to work better with the generator, it made a lot of noise, but that turned out to be an excellent marketing move. Now the people who hear the noise from outside understand that the place is open and that we are able to prepare everything!”
With a little uneasiness and a good deal of desire for “normality” and inventiveness, the boys manage to keep the business running not only for themselves, but also for their fellow citizens.
Before she says goodbye, Anya tells us one last episode.
“We were always in a pretty safe area,” he says, “the bombs were always falling within a few kilometers of us. However, on the evening of December 31, a bomb fell about 300 meters from our restaurant. The noise was unbearable! At first I wanted to check, then I was very scared and then burst out laughing hysterically. After several hours I couldn’t recover, I didn’t feel anything anymore. We were lucky to survive, the only loss was the outside patio which was destroyed by the blast. The windows of nearby shops and several of the apartments above us were smashed. In the following days it was hard to go to work, it was scary to walk through this glass covered street downtown.
Now let’s continue. You never know what to expect in a month and what will happen in two, but we’ve all learned to adapt quickly to new circumstances, change plans in a day, and never give in to despair.