Kyiv, Ukraine — January 2026
As temperatures in Kyiv plunged to -19°C, residents of the Ukrainian capital are battling not only one of the harshest winters in recent memory, but also a renewed wave of Russian strikes targeting the city’s already fragile energy infrastructure. With electricity, heating, and running water cut off in large parts of the city, ordinary Ukrainians are once again being pushed to the limits of endurance.
At a suburban railway station on the outskirts of Kyiv, two stationary train carriages sit on the main platform, engines humming steadily as snow falls around them. These trains are not transporting passengers anywhere. Instead, they have become sanctuaries of warmth, light, and human connection. Known as “Invincibility Trains,” they are part of a national initiative aimed at helping civilians cope with winter hardships caused by war-related power outages.
Inside one of the carriages, Alina, a young mother, watches as her infant son Taras plays with donated toys provided by international humanitarian organisations. For Alina, the train offers brief relief from daily survival.
“I live on the 17th floor of a new building,” she explains quietly. “But there is no elevator, no electricity, and no water.” In the freezing conditions, climbing up and down dark stairwells has become exhausting and dangerous. The train, she says, is not just warm—it feels safe.
As she speaks, Alina’s voice falters when she mentions her father, who was killed two years ago during fighting near Bakhmut. Like countless Ukrainians, she carries both present hardship and past loss, layered together in a conflict that shows no sign of ending.
Energy Infrastructure Under Siege
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of deliberately exploiting winter conditions to intensify attacks on power stations, substations, and energy storage facilities. Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, sparked controversy this week when he suggested that residents who are able to leave the city temporarily should consider doing so in order to ease pressure on limited resources.
Russian media quickly portrayed the remarks as an admission of defeat. Yet on the streets of Kyiv, the mood is far from surrender. Most residents remain determined, stoic, and deeply resilient.
According to city officials, recent strikes have caused the worst power outages Kyiv has experienced since the full-scale invasion began in 2022. On Tuesday alone, more than 500 residential buildings were left without electricity. Engineers warn that each successive attack has a cumulative effect, making repairs slower and more complex.
“Every time it becomes harder to recover,” said Olena Pavlenko, president of the Kyiv-based think tank DiXi Group. “Everything is frozen. Repairs that once took hours now take days.”
Families Forced to Adapt—or Leave
For Yulia Mykhailiuk and Ihor Honcharuk, life has become a constant exercise in improvisation. Their apartment, located in an ageing Soviet-era building east of the Dnipro River, is temporary accommodation after their original home was damaged in a Russian strike last summer.
“We had electricity today for about four minutes,” Ihor says bitterly. “All our power banks are empty.”
The couple heat bricks on a gas stove and place them around their small apartment to keep warm. Their one-year-old son, Markiian, is dressed in multiple layers, as heating remains unavailable.
“This is a real winter,” Yulia says with grim irony. “Minus 12 to minus 16 degrees—and no heating. The apartment gets cold very fast.”
At the weekend, they plan to leave Kyiv temporarily and stay with relatives outside the city. It is a personal decision, they stress—not an act of fear, but of necessity.
Emergency Repairs in Extreme Conditions
Across the capital, engineers from energy companies and municipal services work around the clock, often outdoors in sub-zero temperatures, digging through frozen ground to locate damaged cables. In many cases, repairs are temporary solutions designed simply to restore minimal lighting.
“We are working in emergency mode,” said Andrii Sobko, a senior engineer with DTEK Grids. “The equipment is operating at critical limits—just so people can have light.”
Authorities have urged residents to avoid using high-energy appliances when electricity briefly returns, as sudden spikes in demand frequently cause system collapses, leading to further damage.
A Generation Growing Up in War
Among those seeking warmth on the Invincibility Train is Stanislav, an 11-year-old boy who says his family recently went 36 hours without power. He vividly remembers the first day of the invasion, nearly four years ago.
“I saw bright flashes in the sky,” he recalls. Today, it is the buzzing of drones overhead that keeps him awake at night.
“When I hear something flying, it’s scary,” he says. “You don’t know if it will explode—or if you survive.”
Despite his words, Stanislav smiles often, displaying a resilience far beyond his years. Yet his final remark is quietly devastating: “I don’t really remember life before the war.”
Endurance Without an End in Sight
As air raid sirens interrupt conversations and force people back into shelters, Kyiv continues to function under extraordinary strain. The winter will eventually pass. Power may return. But for many Ukrainians, the deeper fear is that the war—and the steady loss of life—will not.
In the face of freezing temperatures, darkness, and constant danger, Kyiv’s residents are doing what they have done for nearly four years: enduring, adapting, and refusing to break.
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