in kyiv, residents cope with power cuts

In the streets of kyiv, a smell of diesel and a certain noise, that of the groups generators which are multiplying in the city. Eduard is a painter: he has just installed one at the bottom of his home, to find a little light in his workshop. But it’s still cold, Eduard has put on three layers: a sweater, a fleece, a down jacket and bubble wrap in the windows, to better insulate his old house which dates from 1890. From the height of his two meters he smiles, showing his webs, then clenches his teeth.

“It’s genocide. The Russians want to destroy us. You saw what they did in Boutcha.

Eduard, resident of kyiv

at franceinfo

“And yet, I am Russian!”, he continues. “Finally, my parents are Russian. I was born in Ukraine”

Eduard says that with his son, this weekend, they have board games, lit with a flashlight. And all over kyiv, Ukrainians are adapting, lighting up in the light of cellphones on the sidewalks plunged into darkness.

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In the courtyard of this Georgian restaurant, another generator, to compensate for a new power outage this evening. “We have been without electricity for four hours”, explains the manager. The room is curiously silent, usually the place is lively. The kitchen remains open, but with an adapted menu: a few salads, and charcoal grills and candles on all the tables! A comfortable, subdued, almost romantic atmosphere that customers appreciate.

The inhabitants of kyiv can even find on the Internet, schedules, district by district of cuts programmed to relieve the network, but the slots announced are not always respected. Vitali Klitschko, thehe mayor of the city, he envisages the worst: “A total blackout is possible. You have to be prepared. I call on you all to stock up on drinking water, batteries, provisions and warm clothes.”

The city of kyiv explains that it is currently setting up more than a thousand “heating points”sites, connected to generators, to accommodate residents and shelter them from the winter.