Yoga helps Ukrainians in Donetsk region with relieving stress caused by Russian shelling

(17 Sep 2023) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ASSOCIATED PRESS Kramatorsk - 14 September 2023 1. Yoga class participants walking into a basement 2. Various of yoga mats laid down 3. Wide of yoga class, chanting 4. Wide of 52-year-old yoga instructor Serhii Zaloznyi UPSOUND (Russian): “Allow yourself to express your voice while being guided by the heart.” 5. Focus pull from one participant to another 6. Pan of the yoga class 7. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Serhii Zaloznyi, 52, yoga instructor: “There is no war in the heart, there is no war in our souls. We have peace in our hearts, peace in our souls, and we try to spread it to our loved ones, our relatives, and those around us. We help many people, you know; we help with our state of mind.” ASSOCIATED PRESS Kramatorsk - 13 September 2023 8. Pan to a damaged building in the centre of Kramatorsk 9. Various of the site of a Russian missile strike at a popular pizza restaurant ASSOCIATED PRESS Kramatorsk - 14 September 2023 10. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Serhii Zaloznyi, 52, yoga instructor: “Kramatorsk is in a zone of practically daily shelling. But we are absolutely sure that everything will be fine here, there will be no shelling, because our attitude towards peace is … Well, this room of ours, I could say, it’s alive already, it protects us. This space, it’s already completely familiar and safe for us.” 11. Mid of a man at the yoga class 12. Yoga class participants following their instructor 13. Wide of yoga participants reflected in a mirror 14. Mid of 47-year-old yoga participant Viktoria Omelchenko exercising 15. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Viktoria Omelchenko, 47, yoga class participant: “When all these events began in our country, I also initially left, then returned. And yoga brought me to emotional balance. Yoga classes gradually calmed me down, balanced me, taught me not to be afraid, to feel in harmony and balance. That’s why these classes are really very important, especially in our city when it’s restless, they help a lot.” 16. Tilt up from slippers to the yoga class 17. Various of yoga class STORYLINE: In a basement in one of the front-line cities in the Donetsk region, people gather three times a week in the morning for yoga to alleviate the stress caused by Russia’s constant shelling. Soothing music fills the basement in Kramatorsk, where the humid air is tangible. As 52-year-old yoga instructor Serhii Zaloznyi gently leads people into a meditative state, participants of the class let go of the external world. Occasionally, the sound of water rushing through the pipes of the multistory building disrupts the tranquil music, serving as a reminder that the yoga session unfolds in the basement. “There is no war in the heart, there is no war in our souls. We have peace in our hearts, peace in our souls, and we try to spread it to our loved ones, our relatives, and those around us,” Zaloznyi said. “We help many people, we help with our state of mind,” he continues as people calmly breathe with their eyes closed. For the participants, the “external world” is life in a frontline city where sirens sound every few hours, and the noise of explosions disrupts their daily lives. Kramatorsk is just 30 kilometres (around 20 miles) from the battlefield frontline in the Donetsk region, where some of the heaviest fighting in eastern Ukraine takes place. In late July, a Russian missile hit one of Kramatorsk’s most well-known pizza restaurants, killing 13 people, and shocking the city’s residents. One of those attending is Viktoria Omelchenko, 47, who initially left Kramatorsk but returned a few months later. Find out more about AP Archive: Twitter: Facebook: ​​ Instagram: You can license this story through AP Archive: