Ukrainian girl living in bomb shelter turns a TikTok sensation with her make-do videos
A Ukrainian girl has become an unexpected sensation on TikTok after sharing make-do videos of her life at the shelled-out city of Chernihiv. The young TikToker has bagged over 300,000 followers since Russian President Vladimir Putin has launched the full-blown attack on Ukraine on February 24.
@Valerisssh gives her audience a behind-the-curtains view of the ongoing military invasion of Ukraine and its impact on the day-to-day lives of civilians in the war-hit country. At present, she resides in her family’s underground bomb shelter along with her mom, dad, and pet dog. One of her videos titled “My Typical Day In A Bomb Shelter,” has received landslide views of 22 million. The video shows the family hunching down in their below-ground bunker possibly due to Russian airstrikes nearby.
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The young TikTok sensation posts videos of her make-do life in a bomb shelter where she can be seen doing her regular day-to-day activities like watching her mom cook, playing with her dog, drying her hair, all with a spin of adversity.
Captions and titles of her TikTok videos show her laid-back humor but mostly sarcasm. In one such clip, the Ukrainian wrote “Living my best life...Thanks Russia! #ukraine #stopwar #russiastop”
In a separate clip, set to Future and Gunna’s rap song ‘pushin P,’ the girl shows off the bomb shelter’s gym joking that it’s actually a pricey 5-star hotel. Many of her videos feature her dancing on trending TikTok music with the glimpse of a shelled-out city in the background amid piles of rubble.
Currently, the young TikTok sensation has gained an army of followers who are interested in the life of Ukrainians in the wartime context. @Valerisssh receives a lot of comments extending support and prayers and praises for her insights into the lives of so many others like her in the real-time crisis situation.
“The internet changed war as we know it,” one comment read, while another said, “Imagine students watching this in a history class one day.” A follower wrote “You amaze the world with your resilience. Love from America.”