The Polish city of Lublin has restored a Cold War-era bomb shelter amid growing Russian attacks on Ukraine and heightened alert in eastern Poland, Reuters reported.
The facility has also undergone a symbolic change, reflecting a changed perception of threats. Its emergency exit now faces west, not east.
Poland, once part of the Soviet bloc and now a NATO member, has been on high alert after several incidents of Russian missiles and drones entering its airspace. Residents of eastern Poland are warned to seek shelter during Russian air strikes on western Ukraine.
Such alerts are gradually becoming part of everyday life near the border. Last week, a regional television station interrupted its live broadcast for about 20 minutes after journalists evacuated to a shelter due to an air raid warning.
Among the facilities available during the latest alerts is a modernized shelter under the base of the municipal transport operator in Lublin. Built in the mid-1980s, at the height of the Cold War, it has now been renovated to meet modern requirements.
The shelter can accommodate 200 people for up to 72 hours and has its own source of water and electricity, independent of external power grids, civil protection inspector Camille Jond told Reuters.
The modernization is part of Poland’s efforts to boost its civil defense preparedness due to the war in neighboring Ukraine. However, many Poles still do not know where they could hide in the event of an attack.
According to the Polish government, the country has about 2,000 shelters with a capacity for approximately 300,000 people. In addition, there are more than 86,000 places offering a lower level of protection, including basements, underground garages and metro stations. They can accommodate a total of about 23 million people.
"I actually doubt that we have a shelter at all. I would probably run to the basement or my own bathroom", says 77-year-old Elżbieta Woznica.
"For so many years I had been used to peace and quiet. "I couldn't imagine that something like this could happen," she added.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said this week that Russian military action in Ukraine was moving closer and closer to the Polish border.
"We are being forced to take our planes into the air again and again - night after night and day after day - because Russian attacks near the border are now a regular occurrence," Tusk told the government.
He stressed that authorities remain fully focused on preventing incidents on the Polish side of the border.