Liudmyla Shramko’s Struggle with Power Outages in Ukraine
Liudmyla Shramko left Kyiv in 2024 with her young twin daughters to avoid shelling and blackouts. But a year later, 16-hour power outages caught up with her in western Ukraine. The 40-year-old recalls a two-day unscheduled power outage in her apartment in the capital in summer 2024 when it was 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).
“It was extremely difficult with children,” she told CNN. Not only was she not able to turn on air conditioning, but she couldn’t cook or use the elevator either.
When Shramko moved to a new city with her twins Oleksandra and Yelizaveta, then one year old, she looked for an apartment with the kind of blackout-proof amenities she didn’t have in Kyiv, such as a gas stove. This past year, Shramko has again had to live with blackouts, but this time during the winter.
Relentless Russian Attacks Complicate Winter Energy Crisis
In most Ukrainian homes, when the power is cut, heating stops working as well. Russia has been pounding Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with drones and missiles in recent weeks, employing a tactic used in previous winters. The strikes have left tens of thousands of people across the country without power or heating amid freezing winter temperatures.
As Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky put it, the aim of such attacks is “to create chaos and apply psychological pressure on the population.”
Huge strikes on Kyiv on December 27 left more than 40% of residential buildings in the capital without heating. On average, Kyiv residents had no electricity for 9.5 hours a day in December. With the country’s energy system strained, energy companies have had to schedule rolling blackouts, and Ukrainians’ lives are now governed by those schedules.
Daily Life Adapts to Scheduled Blackouts
Mothers of young children rush to wash large amounts of children’s laundry as soon as power returns. Older people wait for electricity supply so they can use the elevator and go outside. Some cafes and restaurants change their menus and even prices depending on whether they are using power from the grid or diesel generators.
Kamianets-Podilskyi, the city where Shramko now lives in western Ukraine, is not lit in the evenings, she said. So, she and her husband take their children outside in the morning, before it gets dark. The twins are now so used to the roar of generators, they sleep peacefully no matter how noisy it is, she added.
Uncertainty Fuels Anxiety Amid Ongoing Threats
For many Ukrainians, the hardest part is uncertainty, with relentless Russian attacks compounding scheduled blackouts. “We are constantly worried,” Shramko said. “We are always thinking about what will happen next. What will happen if there is no electricity for two or three days, for example? What will happen if we cannot charge our batteries?”
The batteries power lamps that can be used during blackouts – portable power stations – as well as cell phones and laptops. It’s not only electricity and heating that can be cut off for days. A Russian attack on the port city of Odesa overnight into December 13 also hit the water supply. That night felt “apocalyptic,” Odesa resident Valeriya told CNN. “The nig”
