“We will rave on Putin's grave”

Kristina Berdynskykh on the surrealism of a life moving between Kyiv’s nightlife and the frontlines

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Yesterday Russia launched one of the most deadliest attacks on Kyiv since last summer. After years of war, Ukrainians have learned to live a complicated life full of death and grief but also love, joy and even dancing. Journalist Kristina Berdynskykh talks to a DJ Raavel who navigates this contradiction by both spinning in the clubs of Kyiv and fighting at the front.

This piece is part of our special series on the front lines of the war in Ukraine. These stories offer a window into how regular people are managing their daily lives as this conflict drags on. Read the rest of the series here.

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Tony Wan Kenobi, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

It’s 7pm in central Kyiv and people are gathering near a one-story brick building on the site of a former factory. Techno blares, and the bouncer, a young girl, works the entrance to the nightclub. Her questions are simple: “Have you been here before? And who did you come to listen to?”