How Kyiv is surviving icy winter

Ukraine is currently undergoing a particularly cold spell with temperatures in the capital Kyiv reaching lows of minus 17 degrees Celsius. Because of Russia’s ongoing destruction of the country’s energy infrastructure, the situation is critical. Authorities have imposed strict timetables for when electricity can be used. About 400 high-rise buildings in the capital have no heating at all. Some do not have access to water.

In city districts located on the left bank of the Dnipro River, there is electricity for three to four hours, according to Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, and then none for nine to 10 hours.

“On the right bank, there is electricity for five hours, then none for five hours,” she told the Ukrainian parliament, promising improvements within a few days, provided there were no more Russian attacks.

The government has criticized the Ukrainian capital for its poor preparations for winter in wartime conditions. “Kharkiv has prepared itself, there are portable boilers and generators,” said Denys Shmyhal, the former defense minister shortly before he was appointed energy minister.

Mayor suggests Kyiv residents should leave city

After Russia’s most recent attacks, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko called on the city’s residents to leave if possible, saying that electricity, heating and water supplies had been cut off. “I appeal to all residents of the capital, who have the opportunity to temporarily leave the city for places where there are alternative sources of power and heat, to do so,” he said on messaging platform Telegram.

Some residents left but most stayed because, they say, the situation outside of the capital is actually worse.

“In my dacha [garden house] settlement, people have been without electricity for five days,” said one Facebook user called Yulia Detkova. “Everything there depends on electricity. There is no gas supply. Water, heating and food — all run on electricity. Those who have a stove or fireplace and fuel are at an advantage. You can set up a generator but you can’t get that much petrol, diesel or gas, and it’s expensive. I made a conscious decision to stay in the city. Going out to the country is not a good solution for me.”

“I work at a school where children have been coming,” a teacher named Svitlana told DW. “It’s our little refuge. We have gas heating and a generator, so I couldn’t leave Kyiv even though I have a dacha in the country.” She said that she had also made sure the situation was secure at home: “We have a powerful charging station that supplies the entire apartment with electricity, and you can connect a kettle or multi-cooker. For us, everything is much better than it was during the power outages of 2022.” 

Hot water bottles, blankets

On January 14, Klitschko announced that the situation in Kyiv remained very difficult in terms of power and heat supply. He said it was worse than at any time during the previous four years of the full-scale war. He added that an emergency commission was discussing further measures.

Meanwhile, the residents of Kyiv have started sharing strategies for surviving without electricity and heating on social media. Some users have posted photos of themselves wrapped in multiple layers, while others are covered in hot water bottles.

“For five days in a row, the temperature in the apartment has been only 13 or 14 degrees Celsius,” wrote Tetiana Pechonchyk, the head of the Human Rights Center ZMINA, on Facebook. “There are two states: During the day, like a cabbage head, and at night, like a larva in a cocoon. How are you coping? What is the impact of the Russian attacks for you?”

She received many responses. “We finally have heating again,” said a user named Hanna Hryzenko. “We were without electricity for almost three days,” she explained adding that during this time she had charged her phone in tents set up by the city authorities. These are equipped with generators and people can warm up as well as charge their devices. “So far, it hasn’t been too bad,” she said.

“Very warm pajamas and a down duvet,” wrote another Facebook user called Viktoria Babiy. “Next week, I’m getting a biogas stove, which is small but heats well.”

Anna Neplyakh, a well-known blogger in the city, wrote: “I’m sitting in Kyiv without electricity or heating in my apartment, where the temperature is 10 degrees Celsius,” she wrote on Instagram. “I try to spend my working day in meetings and outside the apartment as much as possible. I sleep in my clothes and cover my head with a blanket.”

Others said that they had pitched tents in the middle of their apartments to keep warm as they slept. 

‘Points of invincibility’

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SES) has set up 47 tents known as “points of invincibility,” which are accessible all day and night. People can go there to charge their phones, use the internet and drink tea. The SES said that 9,000 people had made use of them so far: “Over the weekend, many people came on sleds with their children. Despite the situation, the atmosphere was pleasant,” SES spokesman Pavlo Petrov told DW.

There are also “points of invincibility” in large supermarkets, where people can charge their phones for free. And free food is being distributed at the city’s central station as well as smaller suburban stations.

This article was originally published in Ukrainian.