Opera goes underground in Ukraine's Kharkiv to avoid Russian missiles

Artists perform during a rehearsal on a stage in an underground area which is used as a shelter in the Kharkiv National Opera and Ballet Theatre where performances can continue even during air raids, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine October 27, 2023. REUTERS/Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy

KHARKIV, Ukraine (Reuters) - Opera singers in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv hope to return to the stage more than 20 months into Russia's war by performing in the basement of their theatre to be safe from the threat of Russian air strikes.

Ukraine's second city, which banned mass public events when Russia invaded in February 2022, is regularly targeted by missiles that can take as little as 45 seconds to land from the moment they are fired across the Russian border 30 km (20 miles) away.