February 3, 2026
News & Politics

Kyiv Family Endures Harsh Winter Amid Ongoing Power Grid Attacks

Repeated Strikes on Ukraine’s Energy Infrastructure Leave Residents Facing Severe Hardship

Summary

In Kyiv’s Troieshchyna district, residents confront relentless power outages triggered by continuous assaults on Ukraine’s electrical grid. Among them, mother Yuliia Dolotova struggles to provide heat, electricity, and food for her children during plunging temperatures caused by Russia’s repeated air strikes. The extensive damage to power facilities has forced families to adapt to life without basic utilities as the harsh winter persists.

Key Points

Continued Russian attacks on Ukraine’s power grid have caused widespread and persistent electricity and heating outages in Kyiv’s Troieshchyna district, severely affecting residents’ daily living conditions and safety during extreme winter cold.
The destruction of energy infrastructure has forced frequent repairs and outages, as renewed strikes undo restoration efforts, impacting utility workers’ ability to provide stable services.
Families are coping with the loss of heat, electricity, and running water, with mothers like Yuliia Dolotova managing household needs amid difficult circumstances, compounded by familial separations due to the ongoing conflict.

In the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, volunteers are distributing hot soup to wrapped-up residents braving sub-zero temperatures while waiting in line. Among those receiving aid is 37-year-old Yuliia Dolotova, a mother caring for her two children, including her 18-month-old son, Bohdanchyk. Bundled tightly against the severe cold, they join others who cannot prepare meals at home due to ongoing power outages.

“All day long, there’s no electricity, no way to cook food for the kids,” Dolotova explained. “Pretty much everyone is in this situation.” She resides in Troieshchyna, one of Kyiv’s most severely affected areas by the repeated Russian attacks that have persisted since the full-scale invasion began four years ago.

The Russian military has employed drones and missiles to target Ukraine’s power grid repeatedly. These attacks have disabled electrical and heating services, leaving hundreds of thousands in the region without essential utilities amid temperatures plummeting to as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius (minus 22 Fahrenheit). Forecasts indicate the cold weather will continue for several weeks, intensifying the residents’ struggles.

In addition to electricity loss, water pipes in Dolotova’s district have frozen and burst due to the absence of heat, further complicating daily life and access to water. The damage sustained to the power grid and energy generation stations has reached levels not seen since the onset of the conflict. Repair efforts by utility and energy crews are constantly undermined as new strikes occur shortly after partial restorations, forcing repeated repairs and outages.

Dolotova’s circumstances are further compounded by the absence of her husband, who is serving in the eastern front of the conflict and has only seen their youngest son twice since birth. She is the primary caretaker for her children, including her older son, 11-year-old Daniil, and also manages the family dog, which rarely leaves their apartment due to harsh conditions.

Nighttime plunges the building, a Soviet-era apartment block, into complete darkness. Navigating without power, Dolotova’s toddler learned to hold her cellphone with its flashlight on as she carries his stroller up six flights of stairs—a stairwell that has already caused the destruction of two strollers. Inside their apartment, she switches on battery-powered lamps to provide some light.

At bedtime, the two children huddle close for warmth near frosted windows, playing quietly by flashlight. To combat the cold, Dolotova insulates their bed with foam rubber in an effort to keep them warm through the freezing nights.

Her husband is currently stationed in the volatile Zaporizhzhia region. “He should be coming soon. I live from leave to leave,” she remarked. “I wait for him—that’s what keeps me going. You tell yourself, just a little longer, and he’ll come. You count the days.”

Risks
  • The ongoing vulnerability of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure to repeated attacks threatens prolonged disruption of power and heating services, exacerbating humanitarian challenges in cold months; this instability affects the energy sector's operational resilience and regional utility markets.
  • Persistent outages due to cyclical damage and repair undermine energy supply reliability, increasing demand for emergency relief resources and potentially elevating costs in energy restoration and infrastructure investment sectors.
  • The conflict’s impact on civilian infrastructure and family wellbeing may contribute to increased social instability and strain on welfare systems, influencing regional economic conditions and humanitarian aid sectors.
Disclosure
This article is based exclusively on reported facts and does not include any speculative content or unverifiable information beyond the report's scope.
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