In January 2026, Kyiv went through three major combined missile and drone attacks, in addition to almost continuous strikes by drones and ballistic missiles. After each barrage, energy workers and emergency crews restored heating and power, only for the same facilities to be hit again. Residents of the capital were left without electricity, water, and heating, while mobile service and internet access became unreliable.
One such episode unfolded in a Kyiv pharmacy, where a burned-out generator meant staff could accept only cash. A young mother did not have enough money for medicines and baby food, and another customer paid for her purchase. When the woman burst into tears, she was told:
“We must not cry. And we are not crying.”
The scale of the attacks
On the night of January 8 to 9, according to the Ukrainian side, Kyiv and the surrounding region were targeted with 242 attack drones, 13 Iskander ballistic missiles, 22 Kalibr cruise missiles, and one medium-range ballistic missile. Impacts were recorded at 19 locations. Four people were killed, including an ambulance medic caught in a repeat strike while helping the wounded.
After that attack, nearly half of Kyiv’s apartment buildings, about 6,000, were left without heating. As of January 19, 19 high-rises remained in complete cold, and in hundreds of buildings radiators were barely warm. On the night of January 20, Russia attacked Kyiv again: Ukrainian authorities reported 389 drones along with ballistic and cruise missiles. By morning, Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said 5,635 apartment blocks were without central heating. By January 23, that number had fallen to 1,940, but another attack in the early hours of January 24 sharply worsened the situation once more.
The cost of repair
Those restoring infrastructure were also being killed and wounded. Officials said that on January 21, 47-year-old Ukrenergo board member Oleksiy Brekht died from electric shock while coordinating work at one of the attacked substations. Former company head Volodymyr Kudrytskyi said of him:
“Oleksiy was not a public figure, but his influence and contribution cannot be overstated. He called the repair crews ‘my lads.’”
Rescue workers and utility employees were also among the dead. The author notes that publicly describing where and how repairs are being carried out is dangerous, because such details could guide future strikes.
A city in the cold
In freezing, dark apartment blocks on the Left Bank, neighbors searched for elderly people living alone through social media and tried to help them survive the cold. That is how journalists found Maya Kolesnikova, who had written a single word on Facebook: “Freezing.” The woman, in her eighties, had no electricity, water, or heating; blankets, her cat, and help from relatives and neighbors were all that kept her going. Against the backdrop of attacks and exhaustion, the author writes, what stands out in Kyiv’s courtyards, pharmacies, theaters, and stairwells is not only devastation, but also people’s willingness to support one another.