I spent the night in a bomb shelter as Russia’s drone attacks and assaults on Ukraine’s energy networks worsen
KYIV – Driving through a pitch-black Kyiv at 6pm, once vibrant neighbourhoods appear to have vanished into a few isolated, illuminated shopfronts.
Residents are now dealing with almost daily missile and drone strikes, alongside power cuts of up to 16 hours a day and the threat of winter, when temperatures can plummet to below -10C.
I am staying in relative luxury at a city-centre hotel, which has an on-site generator. Nevertheless, I have to spend the night in the freezing cold underground car park that now serves as a bomb shelter, and return to my room exhausted. The more than five-hour air alarm keeps me in the shelter overnight, my stiff body unable to sleep on a camp-style bed in the centre of the car park, with nothing more than a thin blanket to stay warm.
With Iskander-M short-range ballistic missiles taking as little as three to five minutes to reach Kyiv, it’s not a good idea to pop back upstairs to sleep in warmth.
Despite the external generator, power remains inconsistent, with signs in the lift warning of no power from 9.30am to 1.30pm and again from 8pm to midnight.
After I fall asleep back in my room at the end of a long night in the shelter, the power flips back on, jolting me awake as the TV and lights all switch on.
“If the light goes off, after five minutes, the generator will turn on. Right now we don’t have power,” explains Elya, who’s working on the hotel reception, pointing to the disconnected lifts. “It’s been three weeks like this, because Russia destroyed our power plants. I hope everything will be good and we will not die.”
I’ve been a regular visitor to Ukraine since the start of the war, and it’s clear the challenges are intensifying once again as Russia ramps up its relentless bombardment of the country’s energy infrastructure ahead of the impending winter.
Thermal plants, substations and high-voltage transmission lines are systematically targeted, leaving the Ukrainian capital facing some of its most severe energy disruptions since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Speaking to a Ukrainian friend, it’s clear how much “normal” life has changed. Her daily routine involves using a camping stove for cooking, and filling carafes with water. “There’s no water supply when the power is out,” she says.
“There’s always this anxiety that at any time Russia can strike again and the situation could become even worse.”
The city is now a strange contrast of cosmopolitan amenities and war-ravaged streets. Ukrainian repair teams respond astonishingly quickly to everything from replacing shattered windows to removing debris and covering destroyed facades, often within the same or next day. Despite their best efforts, the sight of burnt-out cars and roads left unusable from attacks is common. The morning after a massive air raid remains jarring, with smoke filling the sky and interiors of high-rise blocks on show where drones and missiles have punctured family homes.
Stopping to buy an iced oat latte from one of hundreds of mobile coffee trucks across the capital, it’s hard for the barista to hear my order over the loud rattling sound coming from the small diesel generator powering the vehicle. The smell of burnt fuel and exhaust fumes linger in the air, with a larger generator bearing the slogan “life goes on…” written on its side.
Power generators are as ubiquitous on Kyiv’s pavements as lime bikes in London. These expensive generators, which can cost more than £1,000, are the only option left for many in Kyiv – but the average monthly wage in the country is between £400 to £500. Ukrainians who cannot afford to pay these prices must live in the dark and cold.
Citizens require several power banks to keep their phones charged, crucial to hear the alarm on the Air Alert app during incoming attacks. When I first travelled to Kyiv in late 2022, drone attacks in the city centre were far less common than today. While there were around 3,300 drone attacks on Ukraine in 2023, this figure increased to 11,255 in 2024 and almost 44,000 in 2025, so far.
On 7 September, while I was reporting in Kyiv, the Russian Armed Forces launched the largest air attack since the war began, totalling 810 drones and 13 missiles across Ukraine. Among the victims was 32-year-old Viktoria Hrebeniuk, a new mother mentored by a Ukrainian I know. She died alongside her two-month-old son, Roman. Moments like this are a clear reminder that behind every discussion of “casualty figures” are families destroyed in seconds.
Hundreds of kilometres to the east of the capital at the frontline, in places like the city of Pokrovsk in eastern Donetsk, intense fighting continues, with President Volodymyr Zelensky recently stating that Ukrainian soldiers in the city are outnumbered eight to one by Russian forces.
In October, 177 attacks on energy infrastructure were recorded by Armed Conflict Location & Event Data. Rolling blackouts and load-shedding aren’t new challenges for Ukrainians, but the resilience of residents who are now more than three years into a devastating Russian war is being pushed to its limits by the sheer scale of the power cuts.
Current estimates suggest around half of Ukraine’s energy generation capacity is offline after being destroyed. If the attacks continue at their current pace, the worst case scenario for Kyiv is just three to four hours of electricity per day.
The challenge with internet and communications is stark. Just a few weeks ago, during a media interview with Zelensky at his official residence, the power suddenly cut out.
Kyiv remains a strategic target as Russia’s winter air assault campaign works to decimate the remaining power capacity across the nation.
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My American journalist friend is running early for our lunch at a chic coffee spot called Humans because her power is out and she is keen to leave the house.
Based in the Shevchenkivskyi district of the capital, where dozens of buildings have been damaged by Russian air attacks, Humans barista Vitaly gestures to a backroom where a large battery is stored.
“We just use batteries now,” he tells The i Paper. “We’re a pro-ecological coffee shop, so we don’t want to use some fuel, gasoline or other stuff. You don’t have the smell of fuel or gas [with batteries].”
The backup power has a limited capacity and on days when power cuts total 10 or more hours, it soon fails. “Sometimes in the day if it’s a blackout or a long time without energy, where the battery is down, we just sit,” he admits.
Kyiv is a city trapped in time, running short on light, energy and connection. The threat of Vladimir Putin as winter approaches has never been more real.
