Sawt Falasteen - Deprived of heating, Kyiv enters survival mode to beat big freeze

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday the country would declare a "state of emergency" in its energy sector, battered by massive Russian strikes and buckling as temperatures dip as low as -20C.

A Russian barrage of drones and missiles last week left half of the Ukrainian capital without heating, prompting mayor Vitali Klitschko to call on residents to temporarily leave the city if able to do so.

Six days later, some 300 apartment buildings still lack heating and the capital is facing prolonged emergency rolling blackouts, imposed by the authorities to ration precious supplies.

In Yevgenia's flat, the temperature was hovering at a chilly 12C.

The heating in her building connected to city's electric grid gets cut off with every blackout, as backup batteries do not have the capacity to take over.

"We've been without power for 12 hours," she told AFP. "And that's not even the worst scenario."

Every hour without power, the temperature in her living room dropped further.

"With each passing day, we're getting closer to zero."

- 'To break people' -

Equipped with her flashlight and with her cat by her side, Yevgenia slipped into a pocket of warmth inside the apartment: a makeshift mattress castle.

The temperature inside reached 24C.

"This idea came to me yesterday at midnight," said the 32-year-old, surprised at its effectiveness.

"I just wanted some kind of feeling, I don't know, of safety, of childhood."

Russia has pummelled Ukraine's energy grid each winter since invading in February 2022, attacks Kyiv says are designed to hurt civilians.

"This is an attempt to break people," Oleksandr Kharchenko, director of Kyiv-based Energy Industry Research Study Center told AFP.

He accused Russia of trying to drive major cities "into a man-made disaster, into an absolute crisis.

"Right now the situation is the most difficult of the entire war in terms of energy supply and heating in several major regions," he added.

In Kyiv, the glow of car headlights and runners' headlamps dotted the otherwise frozen, blacked-out city streets after sunset.

The sound of Russian attack drones mixed with the low hum of power generators.

But residents dared not look up to check the threat from above, their gazes fixed on the path ahead to avoid slipping.

People exercised by candlelight in gyms, got their hair cut by the light of headlamps, and scanned supermarket shelves using the light from their mobile phones.

Without electricity in homes, fridges served as shelves and balconies as freezers.

- No 'disaster' -

The city has also set up large, heated tents where hot meals are distributed.

But amid the crisis, politics has also been at play.

Zelensky has blasted city officials for the response.

"Far too little has been done in the capital", he said in a video address on Wednesday.

Mayor Klitschko, a political rival and former heavyweight boxing champion, has hit back.

Such statements "diminish the selfless work of thousands of people," he said on Telegram, denouncing messages of "hate" directed at him.

Zelensky has ordered an urgent increase in the volume of electricity imports to help put the lights back on.

"The cat is priceless," she said.

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