In Kiev, residents, especially the elderly, are suffering from the winter cold as heating has been turned off due to the Russian attacks.image: ROMAN PILIPEY / AFP
In Kiev, Russian bombings have deprived thousands of residents of their heating in the middle of winter. Elderly, frail and isolated people struggle to survive in the freezing cold.
Feb 1, 2026, 2:59 p.mFeb 1, 2026, 2:59 p.m
Barbara WOJAZER, Kyiv / AFP
Shivering in her apartment, 91-year-old Lidia Telestchouk says she hasn’t experienced such a cold and harsh winter in Kiev since 1942, when the Ukrainian capital was under Nazi occupation.
In January, Russia bombed the Ukrainian energy system, causing power and heating outages in hundreds of thousands of households in Kiev in the middle of the icy winter: temperatures dropped to as low as -20 °C.
Improvise to beat the cold
These heating outages, the worst in Kiev since the Russian invasion began in February 2022, are particularly painful for elderly people like Lidia Telestchouk and can be fatal. She explains:
“In 1942 it was even worse. We haven’t had a winter like this since, it’s terrible and it’s hard for us to survive.”
Despite efforts by the Kiev city administration to repair the damage, thousands of people have been almost without heating for several weeks. Telestchouk still has no electricity, no heating and no hot water.
But she still has gas. The situation is forcing residents to improvise to keep themselves warm. On her gas stove, Telestchouk heats water with which she washes herself or fills it into plastic bottles, which she has converted into small portable heat sources. The temperature in her apartment fluctuates between 8 and 11 °C. She complains:
«It’s not enough. It’s just enough to warm me a little.”
Lidia Telestchouk, 91 years old, in her unheated apartment.Image: ROMAN PILIPEY / AFP
A glimmer of hope for seniors
On this day, employees of the Starenki (“The Elders” in Ukrainian) charity visit Lidia Telestchouk and provide her with food and everyday items.
Alina Diatchenko, program manager of this NGO, brought a special gift: a battery-operated fairy light that makes Telestchouk light up when she sees it. Alina Diatchenko emphasizes:
“The volunteers take some time to talk, which is very important because they not only give them food, but also attention.”
Alina Diatchenko, 42 years old, gives a light bulb to a 77-year-old pensioner.image: ROMAN PILIPEY / AFP
89-year-old Evguénia Iaromina lives in another apartment in Kiev. She is somewhat hard of hearing but is happy to have visitors. She takes them into her kitchen to show how she warms her hands over the flames of her gas stove. It also still has gas, but no heating. She explains as she slowly opens her fists:
“My hands and fingers are going numb.”
In Kiev, more than 900 residential buildings had no heating on Tuesday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said. During the month, up to 6,000 buildings, or half of the city, were left without heating due to the bombing. Iaromina reports:
“The heating worked again for a bit, and then, boom, they bombed again, and now nothing works anymore.”
Evguénia Iaromina shows how she uses her gas stove to heat her apartment.image: ROMAN PILIPEY / AFP
The fear of bombing
Iaromina lifts the hem of her coat, revealing the many layers of clothing she has put on to keep warm.
A few streets away, in her apartment on the 6th floor (without an elevator because there is no longer any electricity), 88-year-old Esfir Roudminska chose the same tactic. Covered with a silk scarf, she says:
“I dress very warmly and look like a cabbage: two or three layers!”
She sits on her bed, surrounded by memorabilia from her life (photos, books and small pictures), only a reading lamp is on.
Roudminska has also hidden improvised hot water bottles and batteries for her cell phone, on which she plays crossword puzzles, under her blankets. The bombing of Kiev, which has been going on for almost four years, is mentally draining people. As she hugs one of her makeshift hot water bottles, she says:
“I’m trying to hold on, but my nerves can’t take it.”
“Sometimes, when no one is home, I cry. Afterwards I feel a little better, even though I’m not really a crybaby. I am 88 years old. I’ve already lived my life.”
Esfir Rudminska, sits on her bed in her apartment with no electricity and almost no heating.image: ROMAN PILIPEY / AFP
Anyone who looks closely will see the next catastrophe looming in Ukraine
Video: watson/Hanna Dedial