Bug-out bags and bomb shelters: Ukrainians swap tips on how to survive war

Anastasiia Bezpalko’s most popular TikTok video is a guide on what to pack to be prepared if war breaks out in Ukraine.

Filmed in her living room, the 19-year-old runs through how to make the perfect emergency survival bag.

The rucksack must be small.

Don’t forget your important documents.

A first aid kit is essential.

As is a good knife.

It’s a stark contrast to her Instagram, which is full of smiling photos of her with friends or enjoying holidays, like many young people her age.

Anastasiia’s video has been viewed around 180,000 times and clocked up more than 400 comments.

Some thank her for the advice, others accuse her of stirring up fear.

For Anastasiia the situation is clear: “To the people who comment saying I am spreading panic: Our country has been at war for eight years. This is basic information you need to know. Informed = armed.”

She is one of many Ukrainians who have gone online seeking and sharing practical advice as the spectre of a Russian invasion looms over them.

Data from Google Trends, which analyses the popularity of search queries, shows that searches for “Russia Ukraine War” in Ukrainian have increased dramatically over the past month.

The data also shows that people have been increasingly searching for information about the emergency survival bags Anastasiia talks about in her video.

Searches for “bug-out bag”, a nickname for the emergency bag, have risen sharply over the last month.

As well as searching for information about bug-out bags, people are talking about them on social media.

Posts such as this simple illustration showing what to pack in a bug-out bag are common across Twitter.

And comments have appeared in various Facebook groups that were not designed to discuss the potential conflict.

One post in a prominent Facebook group for teachers provides a “step-by-step guide” on making bug-out bags for adults and children.

But Ukrainians are not just talking about packing a bag that can be tucked away in a corner and hopefully forgotten about.

Online posts talk of other practical measures. They urge people to make digital copies of their passports. They discuss first aid training. Others query whether it is worth buying a gun.

“Fill up your bathroom tub with water,” one person writes on Reddit, an online forum.

Meanwhile, a mother on Facebook writes: “Develop your family plan.”

“This sounds pretty strange right now, but thoughtful actions and planning will make things much easier,” she adds.

She suggests setting up a meet-up location, having all family members carry fully charged power banks for mobile phones, knowing where all the local hospitals are and writing down phone numbers on paper.

“There may be no internet or electricity,” she warns.

These discussions are not just among strangers online.

Ukrainian news channels have been airing dedicated segments on how to prepare a bug-out bag, with one recent segment amassing more than 60,000 views online.

The presenter begins the piece, saying: “Almost on a daily basis everyone is saying that the Kremlin is proactively preparing for a full-scale incursion into our state. How can one stay calm in this?”

It goes on to give tips about making copies of documents, having plenty of cash and being prepared to go analogue.

“You should be prepared [deal with] problems with internet,” the reporter says. “Experts recommend to have a printed map with you… rather than to rely on a GPS navigator. Maps and documents are better to be wrapped up in a plastic bag so that they won’t get wet by accident.”

The government has also been sharing information online to help people prepare.

This map issued by the government shows where bomb shelters are located across the city, although some have claimed the information is not up-to-date.

Online searches for these bomb shelters have increased in much the same way as for bug-out bags.

In Kyiv, searches for “bomb shelter” in Ukrainian have almost reached the levels seen almost eight years ago with the annexation of Crimea.

Questions over whether the whole country could be drawn into war have been on Ukrainian minds since Russia began moving troops closer to their shared border last year.

But for many, the spectre of invasion isn’t new – with fighting in eastern Ukraine continuing to this day.

This is reflected online with some joking that their preparation involves drinking red wine and trying not to be nervous.

While others plainly tell commenters to calm down.

One man replied to a Facebook post about nearby bomb shelters with an image of a staring lemur captioned: “People. Calm down and pull yourselves together!”

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