How Ukraine's 'cellar violinist' plays on and lifts up spirits while sheltering from bombs

Lytovchenko holding her violin as she poses for a photo in a basement of an apartment building in Kharkiv on March 6. Photo: Vera Lytovchenko/AP

A gentle tune from a violin played by a musician who has been dubbed Ukraine’s "cellar violinist” is a lullaby for a child sheltered in the dark basement of an apartment building in the besieged Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.

Vera Lytovchenko has become an Internet icon of resilience as images of the concert violinist playing in the basement bomb shelter have inspired an international audience via social media.