STORY: Collecting snow for water at home; sleeping in gloves, coats and hats; heating bricks on gas stoves for warmth; erecting tents indoors - Kyiv residents are doing everything they can to survive the coldest, darkest winter of the war.

"When there is no electricity, there is no heating: it means the apartment freezes," said Anton Rybikov, father of three-year-old David and two-year-old Matvii, speaking to Reuters in their home, where he and his wife Maryna have stocked up on backup batteries and sleeping bags.

The 39-year-old military chaplain said one of his sons recently contracted pneumonia after temperatures in the apartment fell to 9 degrees Celsius (48 Fahrenheit) during a power blackout of more than 19 hours following Russian airstrikes.

Russia has intensified its attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure in recent months, concentrating missile and drone strikes on the cities of Kyiv, Kharkiv and Dnipro.

With temperatures plunging to minus 18 degrees Celsius across snow-covered Kyiv, the attacks mean hundreds of thousands of the capital's three million residents are struggling with lengthy interruptions to power and water supplies.

On Tuesday, after a major Russian strike overnight, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said more than a million households in the city had no power.

Simple routines like showering and cooking are now a challenge. For the first time since the full-scale Russian invasion nearly four years ago, the government last week declared a state of emergency related to the energy crisis.

Russia says its attacks on Ukraine are designed to degrade its military and denies targeting civilians.

Across the city, thousands of people now gather in schools and at makeshift street "invincibility points" where generators allow them to warm up, charge their phones and connect to the internet.

With freezing temperatures forecast for several more weeks and further Russian strikes expected, energy experts say the situation is unlikely to improve soon.

Rybikov said he would consider sending his sons out of Kyiv if the blackouts worsen.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

VIDEO SHOWS: RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBOURHOODS DURING BLACKOUT HOURS, KYIV FAMILY USING BIG POT OF BOILED WATER AS HEATER, COMMENTS BY MOTHER AND FATHER, BOTH SPEAKING ABOUT BLACKOUT, EMERGENCY TENTS SET UP IN RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBOURHOOD, VIEWS OF SNOW-BLANKETED CAPITAL

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS: KYIV, UKRAINE (JANUARY 20, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. SILHOUETTE OF DOMES OF ST. ANDREW CHURCH WITH RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS IN BACKGROUND

2. VARIOUS OF DARK RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS IN FOREGROUND DURING BLACKOUT HOURS

3. GOLDEN DOMES OF ST. SOPHIA CATHEDRAL

KYIV, UKRAINE (JANUARY 18, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all)

4. VARIOUS OF ANTON RYBIKOV, HIS WIFE MARYNA RYBIKOVA, AND TWO SONS, DAVID AND MATVII, SITTING AROUND POT WITH BOILED WATER PLACED IN THEIR BEDROOM

5. (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) MILITARY CHAPLAIN, ANTON RYBIKOV, SAYING:

“This winter is the hardest. First, I am very concerned that children are freezing. There is no electricity at all or no electricity for 18-19 hours. When there is no electricity, there is no heating. It means the apartment freezes. It was 9 degrees Celsius in that room (pointing at bedroom).”

6. VARIOUS OF RYBIKOV’S SON PLAYING WITH TOY CAR

7. RYBIKOV TURNING ON GAS STOVE AND CARRYING IT TO THE HALLWAY WHERE HE PLACES POT WITH WATER ON TOP OF IT, SAYING OFF CAMERA (Ukrainian): “I am turning on the gas stove and placing it over. A friend of mine recommended this solution.”

8. POT ON STOVE

9. RYBIKOV AND HIS SON STANDING NEXT TO POT ON TOP OF GAS STOVE AND GAS CYLINDER

10. (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) MILITARY CHAPLAIN, ANTON RYBIKOV, SAYING:

“I also have a sleeping bag - a Swiss‑made one that’s very warm. In the worst‑case scenario, we’ll sleep in it. I can put the children inside as well. I even thought about setting up a tent in the bedroom and using a pot of hot water to warm up a small space.”

11. RYBIKOV’S SON PLAYING WITH TOY CAR NEXT TO POT ON TOP OF STOVE

12. WATER ABOUT TO BOIL IN POT

13. RYBIKOV’S SON LOOKING INTO POT

14. RYBIKOV TOUCHING POT, SAYING OFF CAMERA (Ukrainian): “It feels as a very hot radiator.”

15. RYBIKOV REMOVING POT FROM STOVE, PICKING UP METAL STANDS AND CARRYING THEM INTO BEDROOM

16. RYBIKOV PLACING POT ON METAL STANDS IN BEDROOM

17. (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) MILITARY CHAPLAIN, ANTON RYBIKOV, SAYING:

“When there’s a full blackout - if it happens the way they’re warning us - I’ll send the children to a private house outside Kyiv, where there will still be power and heating.”

18. FRAMED FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHS ON WALL

19. (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) WIFE OF ANTON RYBIKOV, MARYNA RYBIKOVA, SAYING:

“During the strike, we were treating our youngest son for pneumonia. It was terrifying because we had no idea what to do. It was freezing cold - how can you care for a sick child in that? We tried everything to keep him warm. We dressed him in layers and at night we took turns checking on him to make sure he stayed covered with the blanket.”

20. RYBIKOV AND HIS SONS SITTING AT TABLE

21. (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) WIFE OF ANTON RYBIKOV, MARYNA RYBIKOVA, SAYING:

“We needed to do inhalations. We have an EcoFlow power bank, so I connected the inhaler to it. After just one inhalation session, the battery was already half drained. We had to make a choice. Once we finished the treatments, it (battery) could only run for a few more hours - and that was it. After that, we relied on candles.”

22. VARIOUS OF RYBIKOV FAMILY SITTING AT TABLE

23. (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) MILITARY CHAPLAIN, ANTON RYBIKOV, SAYING:

“Now many things have become secondary because what we really need is warmth. Simple things - heat and electricity - yet they’ve turned out to be incredibly important.”

KYIV, UKRAINE (JANUARY 20, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

24. MAN AND WOMAN EXITING EMERGENCY TENT SET UP FOR RESIDENTS TO WARM UP DURING BLACKOUT HOURS

25. PEOPLE ENTERING EMERGENCY TENT

26. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE INSIDE EMERGENCY TENT

27. EXTERIOR OF EMERGENCY TENT

KYIV, UKRAINE (JANUARY 18, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

28. ICE COATING TREE BRANCHES

29. PEOPLE WALKING IN SNOW-BLANKETED PARK

30. CHILDREN SLIDING DOWN ICY SLOPE

31. BOY WALKING WITH ICICLE

32. ICE-COVERED TREE BRANCHES, MAN WALKING BY WITH PRAM

33. VARIOUS OF WOMAN PULLING SHOPPING CART ALONG ICY STREET

34. PEOPLE WALKING IN SNOW-BLANKETED STREET

35. TREE COVERED WITH SNOW

36. MAN STANDING IN SNOW-BLANKETED PARK

37. DOMES OF ST. ANDREW CATHEDRAL BEHIND SNOW-COVERED TREES