In the dark. Nestka talked to residents of Kyiv, Odessa and Dnipro about how their families live without electricity and what supports them now
For more than a month, Russia has been intensively destroying Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with rocket attacks. Attacks hit, first of all, the civilian population. Residents of Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities publish stories and posts on social networks in which they dine by candlelight, prepare food when electric stoves are turned off, and the number of accidents is growing due to broken traffic lights at intersections. Nyurstka talked to residents of the three largest cities in Ukraine about how to survive in the new reality.
Anna Logvinova, Kyiv
“There are days when you leave home and there is no light yet, and when you return, there is no light anymore.
There is no light in schools either, but children still come to study – they read textbooks with flashlights. The flashlight that my daughter goes to school with is from her husband’s bike. It is comfortable, powerful and small.
At home, my daughter does her homework with a flashlight too. It happens that she goes to school when there is light in the house, but they manage to turn it off by the time she returns.
Ekaterina Bondarenko, Odessa
“After the missile strike a few days ago, the situation in the city was difficult to improve, and our house stood without electricity for more than two days. We tried once again not to open the refrigerator, so as not to release the remnants of the cold from there.
“Pro-Russian channels and publics post information about residents of Odessa who are allegedly protesting against the blackouts. This is not true. There were several protests, but they were due to the fact that public utilities did not provide prompt information about accidents and their repair.
“People try to help each other as much as possible. I see in social networks how Odessans write: “I live at such and such an address, I have electricity, it can come and recharge.” Or: “I’m at work right now, the office is there, you can come to wash” – if there is a shower there.
Olga Alekseeva, Dnipro
“There has been an adaptation to life in uncertainty, when you wake up and don’t know how it will be today. And despite all this, people do not have a decline and the feeling that everything is gone. We are unstoppable, do not beat us. The more attacks, shutdowns, the more the resources of the psyche and working capacity rise in response to this.
“A grandmother recently stayed at home with her daughter, and at the usual time they could watch cartoons, but then the lights were turned off, it was dark, and by candlelight, without being distracted by anything, they were making something out of paper. And the daughter then said: “We played so well with my grandmother, as never before in my life.” When there is no electricity and gadgets, people meet. Everything is so real, just the way it is.”
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