Violinist becomes social media sensation after playing from Kharkiv bomb shelter

A musician dubbed the “cellar violinist” has become a social media sensation after playing to comfort fellow Ukrainians in a bomb shelter in the besieged city of Kharkiv.

Images of concert violinist Vera Lytovchenko have inspired an international audience after she began by playing a lullaby for a young boy who was sheltering in the basement of her apartment building.

When heavy Russian bombing of the northeastern city started two weeks ago, Lytovchenko, her professor father and neighbours sought safety in their building's basement.

"Bombs can fall everywhere in our city, so we decided to go down in the cellar," the 39-year-old violinist says.

"We're about 12 people now. We have little boys. We have teenagers. We have old women."

A week into their ordeal, Lytovchenko decided to try to lift the spirits of her cellar mates by holding small concerts.

"All these people are my brothers and sisters now," she said. "I was trying to make them think about something and not about the war for some minutes while I'm playing."

Later she thought to post her recitals which included the calming strains of Vivaldi and even Lytovchenko singing a Russian folk song, on social media. The reaction surprised her as she garnered more than 40,000 views on Facebook and thousands more on YouTube.

"I didn't expect that because I was posting just to reach my friends and relatives,” says Lytovchenko asshe voiced concern for her aunt near Kyiv and other friends around Ukraine.

"Many people text me now saying that my videos give them such support and hope.”

"Someone is alive and someone keeps hope and is optimistic," she said.

Musicians in Ukraine have been helped by fellow players around the world during the last two weeks of invasion.

In one case, Slovenian