Landlords are ignoring rent and the local military is full: How Kyiv's community is rallying in a time of war
Before Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the order for his troops to invade Ukraine, 26-year-old Viktor Vemuna was a comedian whose "life was pretty good." Today, he has no job, he's not allowed to leave the country, and he spends every night in a bomb shelter.
But instead of giving in to despair, he's helping his community in Kyiv survive the war.
Before the invasion, Vemuna was a part-time comedian who worked at a shop that sold devices for gamers.
Then, at 5 a.m. on February 24, he awoke to what sounded like a bomb, and his home shaking.
"You open your eyes and you're in war," he said. "…It's like two different worlds."
In this new world, instead of doing comedy and selling gaming devices, Vemuna wants to join the military.
"Maybe I will be helpful," he said. "But all the army in our city, they full. They don't need more people. We have local security…but they full too."
With military openings unavailable, Vemuna is trying to use social media to help those who are in danger get connected with volunteers who can pick them up.
Most of his work has to be done during daylight. At around 7 p.m. each day, they have to turn off the lights to lessen their risk of an attack. Within a few hours, Vemuna, his sister, his girlfriend, and his girlfriend's mother make sure they are at a bomb shelter.
This routine is replicated by many others in Kyiv and elsewhere in Ukraine. And in what seems like an act of solidarity, Vemuna said his community has eased what would normally be the burden of rent and other essentials.
"Our landlord, she's not telling us to pay," he said. Vemuna is a landlord himself for a house in Vinnytsia. He said he's also not enforcing payment at this time.
His tenant works at an airport that, just Sunday, was bombed. She was among the survivors, he said.
"I would not say to pay for rent. It's not the thing we should do for now," he said. "I think most landlords are trying to be more useful and peaceful."
Vemuna said that passing time helping others almost feels helpful to himself — keeping him calm amid the turmoil.
"But some days, you think what if it will never stop," he said.
Despite everything happening around him, on the outside, Vemuna remains calm. When he spoke to CBS News, he spoke with ease and described his situation in a matter-of-fact tone.
That, he said, is his "superpower."
"It's a battle," he said. "But we're still standing. We're standing."