Darren Snow was born in Vancouver, lived in Medicine Hat and has spent the last eight years in Ukraine. His picture (right) shows the hour and a half line-up he waited in to get groceries on Friday in Kyiv (photos courtesy Darren Snow)

By Teagan Rasche

'Today was the worst'

‘Bone-rattling explosions’: former Hatter talks about living in Kyiv

Mar 4, 2022 | 5:44 PM

KYIV, UKRAINE – In the suburbs in Kyiv, Darren Snow opens his apartment windows expecting to hear explosions.

“Today was the worst,” Darren said. “I heard some really bad explosions today. I was walking back from the market and through a park and heard a bone-rattling explosion.”

Darren was born in Vancouver, lived in Medicine Hat and has spent the last eight years in Ukraine working in IT.

He estimates the explosions were four to five kilometers away but because he’s in a residential neighborhood, he’s not too worried.

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One of his friends wasn’t so lucky. Darren says a female friend was shot in a car on Friday in a small town on the outskirts of Kyiv.

“Putin’s got something to prove and he’s pretty much being handed his lunch here in Ukraine right now,” Darren said. “People are fighting hard. There’s just so much spirit behind everybody here.”

One of Darren’s sons, Dayton Snow, fled Ukraine for Poland this week. While Dayton is now safely out of the country, Darren will likely stay even though he’s thought about leaving.

He has two young children but their mother wants to stay in Kyiv.

“If these children will come, I had something ready to go today but she didn’t want to go,” Darren said. “There’s a lot of marauders who’ll come by even at this point looking to try and steal people’s apartments.”

Darren is getting sick of the bombing and feeling worn out. He says he and fellow Ukrainians are starting to ignore the air raids and sirens because they’re constant.

During the days, he goes to the grocery store and pharmacy but he’s encountering crowds like he’s never seen.

“Today I was in line for an hour and a half, maybe an hour, just to get into the store,” Darren said.

It took just as long to check out. He says bread and milk are tougher to find and people are buying food more often. However, there is enough on the shelves to keep people in Kyiv going.

Despite living in a war zone, Darren is helping his fellow Ukrainians. He’s also buying whatever food he can for a local church group that’s in a bomb shelter close by.

As he continues to live in his apartment, Darren says he feels safe there.

“I’m high enough up, I’ve got a good bomb shelter if I want to and there’s enough security,” Darren said. “If there was some heavy, heavy fighting, I’d know about it.”

He says the best way to support Ukraine, is to support the no-fly zone.

“I think with the no-fly zone, if that would happen, Ukraine would be successful,” Snow said.