If you want to get an idea of how daily life in Ukraine differs from the rest of Europe, think elevators.
Power outages caused by Russia’s attacks on civilian energy infrastructure are so frequent, so prolonged, and so unpredictable that people are often stuck in elevators for long periods of time. Residents of the apartment buildings have therefore started leaving groceries, toiletries and diapers in the elevators in case their neighbors get trapped.
Life is difficult throughout Ukraine. My 70-year-old mother, who lives in a town in western Ukraine, only leaves her sixth-floor apartment if she has to. She says it reminds her of the lockdown during the Covid pandemic but it’s worse.
When we last spoke he told me he has no electricity or water because the water pumps stop working when there is no electricity. The mayor of Ivano-Frankivsk, a city in western Ukraine, has urged residents of apartment blocks to move to rural villages for the winter; it’s easier there to survive power outages that could last “for days,” he said.
Nine months into the all-out Russian invasion, Ukraine braces for the harshest winter in its post-independence history as Russian missile attacks on its energy infrastructure intensify. On November 23 alone, Russia fired 70 rockets over Ukraine, plunging the capital Kyiv into a near-total blackout and forcing its residents to queue for water and use water from melting snow as water supplies are threatened. A week earlier, on November 15, more than 100 Russian missiles had been fired in the largest attack since the full-scale invasion began. On November 27, President Zelenskyy warned of further attacks.
The Kremlin claims its missiles are aimed at military targets, but like much of its propaganda, this claim is patently false. Vladimir Putin and his generals, fueled by propagandists who call for attacks on civilians every night, want to transform our country into a pre-modern state, devoid of any 21st-century comforts. They hope to bomb the Ukrainians into submission.
As a result of the Russian attacks, which have been ongoing since early October, half of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has been destroyed or damaged, officials said. Entire cities are plunged into darkness from afternoon to morning. Streetlights go out, entire buildings are plunged into darkness, and pedestrians use their headlights to be seen. Internet and mobile phone connections are erratic, heating and water supplies are interrupted. The people of Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv and other Ukrainian towns and villages stock up on candles, durable goods and, if they are lucky and rich enough, batteries and generators for portable phones.
Prices have skyrocketed and there are major shortages. Some of my Ukrainian friends asked me to bring them power banks from abroad as Christmas gifts. Some others plan to flee abroad and join the millions of Ukrainian refugees as life grows increasingly difficult.
Many Ukrainians experienced power outages in the early 1990s when the young country fell into a serious economic crisis after the collapse of the Soviet regime. I remember playing cards and board games by candlelight with my parents and sister – it was fun for a child, but as an adult I never wanted my children to experience something like that. Too late; The new generation of Ukrainian children have seen far worse.
But if the Kremlin believes that Ukrainians are weakening and that the cold and hardship will weaken their will to fight, then they are gravely mistaken. It is precisely the experience of difficulties that helps Ukrainians today to resist while their country’s existence threatens to be wiped out. Ukrainians will not give up an inch of their territory.
Ukraine is winning on the battlefield and people know that Russian missile strikes are a sign of desperation.
Recent images of the liberation of Kherson, which has been under Russian occupation for eight months, reveal how Ukrainians feel: there were scenes of rejoicing, kisses and flowers for soldiers, grandmothers begging them never to leave us alone again. ‘ Ukrainian flags were hidden under the pavement tiles, taken out and placed on the streets.
And when the Russians left, other atrocities were inevitably discovered: the sites of torture, the bodies of the executed exhumed from mass graves. Just like in Bucha, Izyum and every other city where the Russians set foot.
That’s why Ukrainians know they can’t give up: they know that Russia’s victory would bring more repression, along with more death and destruction. Seeing these atrocities makes them even more determined to defend their right to live in a free, independent and democratic country.
The world must stand by Ukraine despite the tiredness and approaching winter. The democratic world has sent the best air and missile defense systems, and they are working well. But Russian and Iranian missiles continue to be fired, and more help is needed to protect the infrastructure that has survived the attacks.
Ukraine is demanding more military equipment, advanced fighter jets, tanks and long-range ballistic missiles such as ATACMS. According to government officials, the mere presence on Ukrainian territory of weapons capable of destroying Russian rocket launcher sites would serve as a strong deterrent.
While some defense systems are on the way, the slow delivery of other weapons makes no sense unless our Western friends are even more worried about Russia’s defeat than Ukraine’s defeat.
Such a judgment would be a mistake. However, Ukraine will continue to fight.
Our people have already made the choice: «It is better to live without electricity if it means living without Russians». This quote from President Zelenskyy is repeated every day like a sermon by millions in the darkness of Ukraine.
Article published in the Center for European Policy Analysis