Power Tents and tents on beds: how left bank of Kyiv survives in houses without heating
The Dniprovskyi district of Kyiv has plunged into an "ice age": while the walls in the apartments are freezing and ice is forming on the windows from the inside, residents are turning their own homes into autonomous survival points. When there is no heat in high-rise buildings, the street is about minus 20 degrees, and the light disappears for 20+ hours, the only salvation is tents on beds and gas stoves with burners. After hundreds of addresses were added to the official list of houses where heating will not be restored until the end of the season, Ukrainian News Agency learned about what life looks like at +5 degrees in an apartment and why people stay where appliances are giving up.
The apartments of residents of the left bank are getting colder every day. Due to the lack of heating, the walls of high-rise buildings freeze through, and a thick layer of ice forms on the inside of the windows. People watch in fear as homes turn into uninhabitable concrete boxes. The main horror today is not only the cold, but its consequences: burst pipes and freezing sewers. For many houses in the district, freezing communications have already become a sad reality, threatening a complete shutdown of water supply and sewage even where there is still electricity.
The owners of "gas" apartments were the luckiest:
For owners of apartments with gas, the kitchen has become a strategic center. Those who do not have gas are inventing radical methods of preserving heat.
Olha, a resident of the district, told the Ukrainian News Agency that every time during an attack on Kyiv, she was already mentally preparing herself for the fact that she would have to completely change her way of life, and the very first task was to heat her home to "living temperatures."
"We actually moved to live in the kitchen, I put my two children to sleep right here. We sleep here on mattresses, because with the help of a gas stove you can heat the air to at least an acceptable level. But such "heating" also requires ventilation, which again lets the cold into the apartment." During the day, the children stay near the stoves and away from the windows, on which a layer of ice freezes overnight, and in front of me I wrap myself in three blankets, thermal underwear and winter clothes, and still after a few hours everyone freezes. When the water disappeared, we went outside, collected snow in buckets and melted it on the stove so that there was at least technical water, because even the one that was collected for such an occasion ran out. Every attack - yes, we heard the sound of water draining from the heating systems and were already thinking about what we would do if at some point it was not returned. The option with a gas heater was rejected as dangerous, and putting up a tent in an apartment means that not everyone can fit in there, unlike a kitchen."
Taisiya, a resident of the district, also commented on her "blackout" life without heating to the Ukrainian News Agency.
"My cat and I are warming ourselves in a tent that I set up right on the bed - this way we retain heat from our own breathing. A cat instead of a heating pad. Now the only request to the universe: the main thing is that the sewer does not freeze, PLEASE. Because if this happens, the house will become completely uninhabitable."
Medicine on EcoFlow: 27 hours without electricity with pneumonia
When the schedules of outages do not coincide with the course of treatment, you have to calculate the resources of home batteries minute by minute, and the "altitude" of the house adds to the difficulties - where the water supply does not "reach" during outages.
Denys, a resident of the Dniprovskyi district, also told the Ukrainian News Agency about the difficulties of treatment in an area that is deprived of heating and electricity.
"My child and I fell ill with pneumonia at the same time. The longest period of time there was no electricity was 27 hours in a row after the attack on January 20. The child needed 5 inhalations a day, and we did them in full thanks to EcoFlow. I did the procedures on my own according to the final principle. Our house is made quite well, so the temperature drops slowly, but if you do nothing, it becomes +10 in a day (when it's -20 outside). We have a high floor, so the water disappears along with the electricity. We're used to it: there's always a large supply of technical water and boiling water in thermoses at home. Fortunately, we have a direct number for the doctor, so all questions, including prescriptions for antibiotics, were regulated remotely."
Kateryna, a resident of the Dniprovskyi district, emphasized that the unevenness of the outages affects the psychological state perhaps the most. Despite the authorities' promises to minimize power outages in the affected areas, due to the large scale of destruction, this is almost impossible, and parts of the Darnytskyi and Dniprovskyi districts remain without electricity as well.
"We've had no power since Thursday, for over two days now. The only thing that saves us is a gas stove and a bunch of flashlights. The hardest thing is psychologically when the house opposite has power, and we do not. We put on everything we have, a few blankets. We, the adults, still standing, but I feel very sorry for the neighbors with small children. This is a real test," she said.
DTEK explains the uneven power supply to neighboring housesь technical condition of the networks. In a comment to the Ukrainian News Agency the company noted:
"Different houses are connected to different networks, which are damaged unevenly. Where the networks are in better condition, the light appears more often. Where the damage is more serious, the possibilities of supplying electricity are limited."
"Power Tents" and what you can do in them:
Children in the district has already managed to give its name to the Invincibility Points - now they are called "Power Tents".
State Emergency Service employee, on duty at the Point of Invincibility on Krakivska Street, Dniprovskyi District:
"We work around the clock, there is no limit. As many people as necessary can stay here. You can charge power banks, there is Internet and Starlink, you can drink tea. We have a play area for children: coloring books, stickers, Patron Dog. We never chase animals away. I was on duty at another location, a family came there: three dogs, a cat... We are not allowed to give out medications. But of course, you can call 103, 112 or 101. I myself did not sleep fine this month. The situation at home is the same - it's also cold, there's also no light," the rescuer reports.
A police officer, on duty at the Invincibility Point on Kaunaska Street:
"A lot of people come every day, especially the elderly. Everyone has the same questions: where to recharge, can they warm up, when the light comes on. We alternate shifts, keep order and try to support people psychologically. Is it hard for us? Well, we are also people, we have the same situation at home, there is also no light and heat. When I take off my uniform, I end up in the same cold apartment. But here we have to be a point of support," he noted.
Half of the schools on the left bank are closed due to lack of heating:
Despite the cold, educators continue to work online.
"Since the sad times of Covid, educational institutions have been equipped with smart boards, computers and laptops for remote work. Teachers, parents and students have mastered the technologies, an electronic journal has been introduced on the "Single School" platform. The All-Ukrainian Online School and the "Vseosvita" platform significantly facilitate teaching in the conditions of this winter.
All our institutions have generators, energy storage devices and high-quality Internet. However, the lack of heat (the temperature in the premises is kept at 6-8 degrees) makes it impossible for children to be in the classrooms. Education continues remotely. For children whose parents work and cannot organize distance learning at home, we are deploying regular groups where we heat the air with electric heaters. We are holding on as one family, waiting for the resumption of in-person learning," the education workers note.
And what about the "Multi-Colored Complex"?
The situation on the map of the district is difficult in the residential complex "Comfort Town". A huge massif of thousands of people, which was designed as a model of modern housing, turned out to be the most vulnerable. There is no gas here, and all life support - from heating and water pumps to stoves - depends entirely on electricity. When the voltage disappears for 20+ hours, the district practically freezes. Network accidents often occur - due to the complex connection scheme, emergencies literally arise in houses every day. People cannot even heat water for tea or formula for a child, not to mention heating the apartments, which, due to the large area of glazing, cool down instantly.
Residents are writing en masse with a request to recognize the complex as critical infrastructure, but due to the global deficit in the system, the city cannot give "electric" houses a special status.
A bitter joke has already spread among the residents of the district: no matter which CHPP in Kyiv is hit, the left bank will still be without heat and light. However, despite this local "fatalism", people admit that the situation throughout the city is currently critical, and the right-bank districts are suffering no less.
"Ice picnics" in Kyiv have gained popularity
Recently, a new phenomenon has emerged in the city - mass "cold" outdoor festivities.
Kyiv residents gather in large groups on the frozen Rusanivskyi Channel, go out onto the ice of the Kyiv Sea or meet in Natalka Park on Obolon. They only bring thermoses, burners and wine.
Such gatherings often cause a wave of harsh criticism on social networks: they say, "not the time", "a banquet during the plague" and "how can you party when your neighbors are freezing in their apartments". However, the participants themselves have a simple answer:
"What are we supposed to do, sit at home and watch the steam coming out of our mouths under the blanket? We are not celebrating in the classical sense, we are simply surviving morally. This is our way of not going crazy. It is better to drink hot mulled wine on the channel with friends than to silently freeze in four walls," shares Oleksii, one of the participants of "ice" picnic in Rusanivka.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, Klitschko previously stated that the Darnytska CHPP was critically damaged during the russian attack on February 3, and that it would take at least two months to restore it. At the same time, the mayor provided a list of 1,126 houses in the Darnytskyi and Dniprovskyi districts, which cannot be heated until the damaged Darnytska CHPP is restored.