Late on Tuesday afternoon, Ilyas Verdiev looked from his apartment in Kyiv across an ink-black neighbourhood.
He knew the dark and cold was not an experience unique to him.
Click to subscribe to Ukraine War Diaries wherever you get your podcasts
For weeks, millions across Ukraine’s capital have grown used to living with the blackouts brought on by air attacks targeting the country’s power infrastructure.
But on Tuesday, with winter taking hold, Russia attacked again, this time launching their biggest one day air assault. For the first time, Ilyas’ apartment block was plunged into darkness.
“I’m recording this after four hours of air raid,” he explains in the latest edition of the Sky News Ukraine War Diaries podcast.
“And it’s been reported that over 100 missiles have been launched on Ukrainian territory. I’m back home, upstairs in my apartment and there is no light.
“There is no light at my block, no electricity. But that’s fine. I’ve got candles. I was prepared, and, blocks around me look dark as well so it’s been massive.”
Image:
Ilyas Verdiev
The latest attack followed the symbolic liberation of the fiercely disputed eastern city of Kherson. But at the same time, according to Ukrainian officials, the strikes have further reduced Ukraine’s capacity to produce energy to around 60%.
And significantly, this week, Ukraine received its first dusting of snow in addition to sub-zero temperatures for the first time this season.
“We assume that these missile attacks will continue in order to cut off our heat supply,” explains military volunteer Seva Koshel.
“I don’t know… do Russians think… that we will surrender just because we are out of heat and electricity?”
Image:
Military volunteer Seva Koshel
As discomforting as Tuesday’s Russian counterattack was, Ilyas thoughts, like Seva’s, quickly turned to enemy soldiers who will not only have to live with the biting cold and snow, but fight through it, poorly resourced, and far from home.
“I expect that most of the Russian soldiers just will freeze during the Ukrainian winter,” Ilyas says.
“The winter is coming and it’s going to get cold, and Ukrainian soldiers are very well supplied and very well prepared for that.
“The belief in Ukrainian soldiers is never reducing and it’s only getting more and more powerful.”
Image:
Kyiv has seen its first snow of the winter
Seva continues: “[I] have had some conversations with our [soldiers]. And as I always say, and as I always hear from them, we are totally positive. We are looking forward to our victory.
“These missile attacks are actually [the] Russian response to our successes at the frontline, for the occupation of Kherson, for the occupation of some small villages in Luhansk region.
“They cannot do anything on the battlefield [so] they just hit the infrastructure of the country.
“Of course it’s totally uncomfortable to live in such conditions, but I believe it’s our price for the freedom, for democracy and for [the] survival of our nation. So we will manage it.”
From the creators of Sky News’ award-winning StoryCast, Ukraine War Diaries is a weekly podcast following those living on Europe’s new frontline, and those who have escaped it.
Producer: Robert Mulhern
Digital promotion and additional writing: Da Chipakupaku
