Free rides and good will: how St Petersburg dealt with the aftermath of Monday’s attack

As the city’s metro system was shut down after the terrorist attack on Monday afternoon, many people were left stranded away from home. A quick reaction came from the other citizens’ and local businesses’ who offered free rides, help and food to those affected by the transport collapse.

City buses operated free off charge but were left overcrowded. With people struggling to get home at the end of the working day or just leaving the affected area, a Google spreadsheet was created almost immediately and circulated on social media to help connect car-owners and those stranded. city buses were made free by the government order but were still overcrowded. Yandex.Maps, a popular online map with a built-in chat option, was soon filled with offers for free rides from exact locations. Uber, GetTaxi and other cab services also offered charge-free rides, and brought more cars into the city centre where the attack took place, and drivers also took to social media using the hashtag #domoy, meaning ‘home’ in Russian. Eyewitnesses also said that many drivers were lining up by bus stops for anyone who couldn’t find a seat. Moreover, the city’s new high-speed toll roads opened their gates to be used free of charge.

Gas stations run by Gazpromneft were soon to follow with a message on social media that they are giving free gas, coffee and hot dogs to drivers working to get people home that evening. Countless cafes offered free lunch and tea to the drivers and those stuck in the city centre. Cat cafe Cat Republic and a centrally located hostel that markets itself as a ‘daytime sleep space’ opened the doors free of charge that day, while psychologists in the St Petersburg State University also offered free therapy.

Locals also offered their share of good will by invitinh people over for tea: “If you can’t get home — come over, I live by Petrogradskaya metro station, come over, we’ll drink tea and hang out with my cats,” wrote one user on Instagram.

This collective action was praised on social media. “I am in grief but also so proud to be from St Petersburg now, it’s a unique city and this is another, although sad, proof of this,” wrote another user on Facebook.