Winter comes to Ukraine, with its polar temperatures. In the suburbs of Kyiv, as in the whole country, the inhabitants have to deal with regular power cuts, as a consequence of Russian attacks on energy facilities.
In Irpin, where the mercury will drop to -8°C in the coming days, the inhabitants will have to redouble their ingenuity to keep warm and feed themselves. “I have to turn on my flashlight because it’s dark,” says Oleksander, the caretaker of a building where electricity is cut off twice a day. Like the rest of the neighbors, he lives to the rhythm of power outages.
“In principle, we can endure like this until the end”
“Once again, we have no more power. What can we do? We have a generator, stocks of water and food,” explains the guard. In his apartment, everything is done to prevent drafts. The windows are boarded up to keep the heat in: sandbags have been placed in front of all the openings.
Eating is also becoming a challenge. When there is no power, Oleksander uses a “small gas stove.” “It allows you to prepare a large amount of food in two hours,” he explains.
Upstairs, Andryi, his wife and son try to maintain a semblance of a normal life. But, in the event of a general power outage, they already plan to leave.
“In principle, we can hold out like this to the end. But if the situation worsens, we will go with our parents to the field, they have a house with a wood stove. What else can we do?” Andryi asks. .
Down to -12°C in the east
To relieve the inhabitants, some 400 tents were set up in some villages on the outskirts of Kyiv. Powered by a generator, they allow Ukrainians who want to warm up or recharge their phones.
In eastern Ukraine, temperatures will even drop below -10°C in the coming days, with -12°C in Kharvkiv or -11°C in Donetsk. We will have to wait until the end of next week to return to positive temperatures.
At the front, with the arrival of winter, the positions freeze to a large extent. Ukraine, which promises to retake all its territories from Russia, has nevertheless said it fears a new Russian offensive in the immediate future. Two people have been killed and nine others injured in the last 24 hours in Ukraine, despite a unilateral ceasefire declared by Vladimir Putin.
Source: BFM TV
