The Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, is confronting a severe humanitarian crisis as a brutal cold snap coincides with widespread power and heating outages caused by a Russian missile barrage.
Capital Plunged into Darkness and Cold
Senior international correspondent for The Guardian, Peter Beaumont, reports from a city bracing for overnight temperatures to plummet to a life-threatening -20 degrees Celsius. This extreme weather follows a large-scale aerial assault by Russian forces on Tuesday, 9 January, which successfully targeted and damaged critical energy facilities serving the capital.
Residents Forced to Seek Refuge
With hundreds of residential buildings left without electricity or central heating, many Kyiv residents have no choice but to seek warmth in designated emergency shelters. These points provide not only heat but also a vital source of electricity for charging devices and accessing information.
The attack has starkly highlighted the vulnerability of urban infrastructure during winter and the ongoing strategy by Moscow to weaponise the cold against the civilian population. The timing of the strike, during a period of forecast extreme low temperatures, appears deliberate.
A Battle for Survival in the Freeze
Local authorities are scrambling to restore services, but the scale of the damage means repairs will take time. In the interim, the priority is keeping people alive. The situation creates immense pressure on emergency services and community volunteers who are operating the shelters.
This incident underscores the continuing and evolving nature of the conflict, where attacks on energy grids have become a central tactic, inflicting hardship far beyond the front lines. The resilience of Kyiv's citizens is being tested once more, this time against the dual adversaries of war and winter.
