Residents of Ukraine’s bombed capital clutched empty bottles in search of water and crowded into cafés for power and warmth Thursday (overnight NZT), switching defiantly into survival mode after new Russian missile strikes a day earlier plunged the city and much of the country into the dark.
In scenes hard to believe in a sophisticated city of 3 million, some Kyiv residents resorted to collecting rainwater from drainpipes, as repair teams laboured to reconnect supplies.
Friends and family members exchanged messages to find out who had electricity and water back. Some had one but not the other. The previous day’s aerial onslaught on Ukraine’s power grid left many with neither.
Cafés in Kyiv that by some small miracle had both quickly became oases of comfort.
Oleksiy Rashchupkin, a 39-year-old investment banker, awoke to find that water had been reconnected to his third-floor flat but power had not.
His freezer thawed in the blackout, leaving a puddle on his floor.
So he hopped in a cab and crossed the Dnieper River from left bank to right, to a cafe that he’d noticed had stayed open after previous Russian strikes. Sure enough, it was serving hot drinks, hot food and the music and WiFi was on.
“I’m here because there is heating, coffee and light,” he said. “Here is life. ”
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said about 70% of the Ukrainian capital was still without power.
With cold rain falling and the remnants of a previous snowfall still on the streets, the mood was grim but steely. The winter promises to be a long one. But Ukrainians say that if Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intention is to break them, then he should think again.
“Nobody will compromise their will and principles just for electricity,” said Alina Dubeiko, 34.
She, too, sought out the comfort of another, equally crowded, warm and lit cafe.
Without electricity, heating and water at home, she was determined to keep up her work routine. Adapting to life shorn of its usual comforts, Dubeiko said she uses two glasses of water to wash, then ties her hair in a ponytail and is ready for her working day.
She said she’d rather live without power than live with the Russian invasion, which crossed the nine-month mark this week.
Western leaders denounced the bombing campaign.
“Strikes against civilian infrastructures are war crimes,” French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov acknowledged that it targeted Ukrainian energy facilities. But he said they were linked to Ukraine’s military command and control system and that the aim was to disrupt flows of Ukrainian troops, weapons and ammunition to front lines. Authorities for Kyiv and the wider Kyiv region reported a total of 7 people killed and dozens of wounded.
Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said: “We are conducting strikes against infrastructure in response to the unbridled flow of weapons to Ukraine and the reckless appeals of Kyiv to defeat Russia. ”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also sought to shift blame for civilian hardship on Ukraine’s government.
“Ukraine’s leadership has every opportunity to bring the situation back to normal, has every opportunity to resolve the situation in such a way as to meet the demands of the Russian side and, accordingly, end all possible suffering of the civilian population,” Peskov said.
Mindful of the hardships — both now and ahead, as winter progresses — Ukrainian authorities are opening thousands of so-called “points of invincibility” — heated and powered spaces offering hot meals, electricity and internet connections.
In the southern city of Kherson, recaptured two weeks ago by Ukrainian forces, hospitals’ struggle with the loss of power and water is compounded by stepped up Russian strikes.
Olena Zhura was carrying bread to her neighbours when a strike that destroyed half of her house in Kherson wounded her husband Victor. Paramedics whisked Victor away as he writhed in pain.
“I was shocked,” she said, welling with tears. “Then I heard (him) shouting: ‘Save me, save me. ‘”.
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