Bricks on stoves, «walruses» and dances of invincibility. How people in Kyiv survive when their apartment is 0 degrees

Kyiv residents spend the night at a metro station. Photo: Yan Dobronosov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images

In some regions, air temperature dropped to —30 °C. It was during this period that Russian ballistic missiles attacked Kyiv's CHP (Combined Heat and Power) plants.

«These strikes have no military objective,» stated Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary General, who visited the Ukrainian capital the day after the shelling.

«Their task is to create chaos and fear among ordinary citizens of Ukraine and destroy civilian infrastructure,» he added, standing near the ruins of a station that until recently supplied Kyiv residents with heat.

Few in Ukraine believed in this «pause» and in Moscow's good intentions.

«Putin and his entourage have nothing human about them. Otherwise, they wouldn't have invaded our country and destroyed hospitals and kindergartens, wouldn't have wiped entire cities off the face of the earth,» said one Kyiv resident. Shelling civilian infrastructure with the aim of plunging ordinary residents into darkness and cold is considered a war crime.

But if these strikes are part of Moscow's strategy for victory, then Ukraine can still surprise the Russians. Indeed, it is very difficult for many Ukrainians to survive in extreme cold without heating and with regular, hours-long power outages, which turn into emergency mode after each shelling.

Among them is a Kyiv resident Vsevolod. His heating disappeared on January 9. On that day, Russia launched 36 missiles at Ukraine — mainly targeting the energy system. Among them were 14 ballistic missiles.

«When I arrived, there was no light in his house. I had to climb narrow stairs, using my phone to light the entrance. Stepping carefully, I imagined how difficult such descents and ascents are for grandmothers and grandfathers from the upper floors. Upon entering Vsevolod's apartment, I realized it was uninhabitable. Steam was coming from my mouth. The thermometer in the kitchen showed +2 °C. After the shelling, when the heating disappeared, water in the pipes froze, and the radiators burst. Many residents left to stay with relatives. Vsevolod also took his wife and five-year-old son away. He himself only appears in the apartment during the day, and at night he stays with friends,» says a BBC — Ukraine correspondent.

To somehow warm his home, he heats bricks on a gas stove. Vsevolod covered the windows with plastic wrap.

«You can simply freeze to death here. And it doesn't matter how many layers of clothes you put on yourself,» he says.

Living conditions in such houses are practically unbearable. But Russian generals and politicians, who devise all these plans, strikes, and campaigns, perhaps do not fully realize that many Ukrainians are ready to endure all these sufferings and hardships, but are unlikely to support the idea of capitulation or surrendering territories.

There is an island in Kyiv on the Dnieper River. There is a famous sports ground there with old, rusted horizontal bars, barbells, and parallel bars. When it was «only» —17 °C, the journalist decided to take a walk there. There was a group of people lifting barbells and doing bench presses, as if they were on a sunny beach.

On the other side of the river, fishermen, bundled in warm jackets, held small fishing rods. Some people were swimming in an ice hole.

One of the «walruses,» named Sviatlana, was only in a swimsuit. After diving into the water several times, she slowly emerged from the ice hole.

«I don't like the cold,» she laughed.

While the woman changed into warm clothes, her wet swimsuit turned into a block of stone in the frost.

For Sviatlana, the cold has become an everyday reality.

Her apartment is currently 0 degrees. To warm the air, she, like Vsevolod, heats bricks on a gas stove. At night, she pours hot water into bottles and places them around her bed. The power is constantly off, so electric appliances cannot be relied upon.

What worries her most is what to do with her mother. She was hospitalized with pneumonia, and Sviatlana fears that after returning to the cold apartment, her mother might get sick again.

Swimming in the ice hole helps Sviatlana relieve stress and cope with all difficulties.

«You have to look fear in the eyes — then it won't be able to devour your soul,» she says. Many Ukrainians try to adhere to this principle. Last weekend, hundreds of people, possibly more than a thousand, gathered for a party in Rusanivka, near the banks of the ice-covered Dnieper.

Павялічыць

Photo: Oleksandr Khomenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The DJ energized the crowd with their music. Children screamed with delight, sliding on «tubes» directly onto the frozen river. Local residents distributed hot food.

«We have no heating, and we came here to get warm!» — said one of the partygoers.

People, surrounding the DJ, raised their hands in excitement and bounced to the rhythm of the music. Sweet dreams are made of this — a popular English song from the 80s played from the speakers.

And indeed, the feeling was that everything around was happening in a dream: the war, Russian shelling, the absence of light and heating — all of this suddenly became distant and unreal.

In Ukraine, people often speak of invincibility. This party also became a peculiar symbol of that word. The main message: the more Russia destroys, the stronger the desire to resist will be.

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