Moscow hits energy infrastructure, residents brace for harsh winter

On the road to Bakhmout (Ukraine), one of the most dangerous axes of the country today, Yura Sokorov, a Ukrainian volunteer, brings a vital cargo with the arrival of winter. “We are transporting six wood stoves, it is for the underground shelters, where people live in Bakhmout, these places have to be heated”, he said. Besieged for weeks by Russian forces, the city is still under Ukrainian control. 10,000 people would live without gas or electricity.

Temperatures will quickly drop to -20°C. 50 km away is the city of Sloviank (Ukraine). “We go outside, it’s cold, we make a small fire, it’s the only heating we have”, shows a resident. It is 13°C at her place, and winter has only just begun. “We sleep fully clothed (…) even in my worst nightmares I did not imagine that”, she laments. The director of the Sloviank hospital had two large boilers installed so as not to leave her patients in the cold. She hopes the Russians won’t strike there.