Kyiv residents survive cold as Russia weaponizes winter

After months of massive Russian strikes on power plants and distribution networks, residents of Ukrainian cities are freezing in their homes. Many have had little to no electricity or heating since the start of the year, and in some places, there’s no running water either. The hardest hit regions have been Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, and Zaporizhzhia, as well as Kyiv and the surrounding region. The capital’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, says around 600,000 people have left Kyiv in January alone, as temperatures plunged to -15° Celsius (5° Fahrenheit) — well below the seasonal norm. To learn how Ukrainians are surviving these extreme conditions, Meduza spoke to five residents of Kyiv and the surrounding region who chose to stay.