Kyiv Mother's Struggle: Keeping Children Warm Amid Winter Power Cuts
In the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, residents are enduring a severe winter as months of relentless Russian drone and missile attacks have left hundreds of thousands without essential heat or electricity. This crisis has reduced daily life to a fight for the most basic necessities, with families grappling in freezing temperatures that can plummet as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius.
Daily Hardships in a War-Torn District
Yuliia Dolotova, a 37-year-old mother of two, exemplifies this struggle. She lives in Troieshchyna, one of Kyiv's districts hardest hit by repeated Russian assaults since the full-scale invasion began four years ago. With no electricity for much of the day, cooking food for her children has become an impossible task, forcing her to queue with others wrapped in heavy coats for hot soup ladled by volunteers.
Her 18-month-old son, Bohdanchyk, is bundled in layers against the biting cold, while her 11-year-old son, Daniil, faces the same harsh conditions. The absence of heat has caused water pipes to freeze and burst, compounding the strain on daily life. Damage to the power grid and stations is at its worst since the conflict started, with utility crews constantly working to restore services only for Russia to launch another strike, resetting the cycle of repairs.
Personal Sacrifices and Resilience
The hardship is deepened by the long absence of Dolotova's husband, who is fighting in the volatile Zaporizhzhia area and has seen his youngest son only twice since birth. She cares for her two sons and the family dog, managing alone in a Soviet-era tower block that goes completely dark at night. Her infant son has learned to grip her cellphone with the flashlight on as she navigates six flights of stairs, a journey that has already broken two strollers.
Inside their apartment, Dolotova relies on battery-powered lamps for light. Before bedtime, the brothers huddle together for warmth, playing silently near frost-lined windows illuminated by flashlight. She insulates their bed with foam rubber in a desperate attempt to retain heat, clinging to hope as she counts the days until her husband's next leave.
This story highlights the broader humanitarian crisis in Kyiv, where the harsh winter is expected to continue in the coming weeks, testing the resilience of families already pushed to their limits by ongoing conflict.
