A brave British man says he had an “incredible” holiday in war-torn Ukraine despite air raid sirens forcing him to hide in the subway.
Adam Smith spent five days in the capital Kyiv and says he can’t wait to go back.
The 32-year-old flew to Krakow, Poland, before taking a 10-hour train to a £7 a night hostel in the city centre.
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But on the first night, Adam was woken by an air raid siren and had to rush to the nearest subway.
“The air raid siren went off when I was just drifting off,” Adam, of Northampton, told What’s The Jam.
“I knew I’d hear it at some point because it’s pretty much every night.
“It was about 11pm and I could hear it in the distance.
“I didn’t know what to do but I went to the shelter
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“It felt very real, I didn’t feel much fear and I did feel excitement.
“We were all the way at the bottom of the subway. There were around 500 people.
“The atmosphere is really hard to describe.
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“It felt like when you do a minute’s silence, there was just quiet anticipation waiting for the all clear or get bombed.
“A lot of people don’t bother going to the shelter because they’re really bored of it.
“By the end of the trip, I couldn’t be bothered.”
He says the sirens blared three times a night during his trip.
Adam’s family begged him not to go on the trip but his friends weren’t surprised.
Adam said: “I’ve always wanted to go, even before the war, but the war has gone on for so long.
“I like anything mysterious, secretive and gives a bit of an adrenaline rush.
“I want to see what it’s actually like because it’s hard to tell from the media.
“Some people say there’s no war and other people say Ukraine is destroyed.
“There’s definitely a war.
“My family were worried and asked me not to go but I’d done my research.
“The chances of getting hit by anything are unlikely.
“You’re more likely to die on the plane there or in a car crash.”
The whole trip set him back £250.
A return flight from London Luton Airport cost £40.
The return train from Krakow to Kyiv was £80 and he took £100 spending money.
A war-themed tour was the most expensive activity, costing £200.
Adam said: “You can’t fly there so I flew to Poland and got a sleeper train.
“I was one of the only men on the train, it was mostly women going to visit families.
“I was checking maps to see if I was crossing the border, when I crossed the border I was so excited.
“Kyiv was quite grey, I’m not sure if that was the war or the winter.
“There weren’t many tourists.“
Adam is already making plans to go back to the city in summer.
He added: “I loved it. It was incredible.
“The people were helpful and the food was good.
“I just wandered around and explored.
“I went to all the attractions and sampled the local food.
“They are trying to get back to normal.
“I went on a tour of occupied cities that Russia had been pushed out of and that was interesting.”
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