‘Psychological war on society’: Russia plunges Ukraine into darkness 

Kyiv, Ukraine – The rattle of multiple petrol generators sounded out across the historic neighbourhood of Podil as people attempted to traverse the icy streets in near darkness.

About half the capital’s homes are without heating or power after large Russian aerial strikes on Ukraine targeted the country’s infrastructure in recent weeks.

Temperatures sit well below freezing.

Yet as an air raid siren blares, young people in Kyiv gathered in a row of cafes and bars. Generators are able to provide heating, light and music.

“It’s really important for the youth to meet up and do stuff together so we don’t break down mentally,” Karina Sema, a 24-year-old journalist, told Al Jazeera.

She pulled out her phone and showed a video filmed the day before. About 100 people can be seen gathering in torchlight around a speaker, singing along to a track called All I Need Is Your Love Tonight.

The latest large-scale attack was on Tuesday night, when Russia fired drones and ballistic missiles across the country, plunging the city, including the Ukrainian Parliament, into darkness just as repair crews had begun to restore parts of the grid after an assault earlier in January.

Repeated attacks have pushed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to issue a state of emergency in the energy sector. He has accused Russia of deliberately exploiting the bitter cold snap as a weapon of war.

United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk denounced the strikes as a “cruel” and clear violation of international law.

The lack of heating has caused water pipes to burst in some buildings, leading to flooding as the water in them freezes.

Residents of an area on the capital’s left bank, which has been hit by repeated drone strikes and has no electricity supply, told Al Jazeera of a number of creative solutions to the crisis.

One popular method is to heat a brick on a portable petrol-powered stove, which helps warm the apartment and retains heat long after the stove is switched off.

Assiya Melnyk, a single mother in her 30s, showed Al Jazeera around her apartment, which had had no electricity for the whole day.

“My eyesight is going because I squint in the dark for so long,” she said, holding a small torch.

“It is hard to stay warm, we use jumpers and blankets; I just think of my daughter and keeping her well mentally and physically,” she said.

Economic impact

The attacks on infrastructure also hurt business owners who have struggled for almost four years under a wartime economy.

Enes Lutfia, a 24-year-old originally from Turkiye, told Al Jazeera that he is now considering closing his restaurants and bars.

It costs him almost $500 a week to fuel his generator.

“I have no customers”, he said. “Young people hang out together on the street or at home, many adult men are fighting, many women have left the country,” he said with a resigned shrug.

Defending the country’s energy sector is also costing Ukraine.

Zelenskyy said the air defence missiles used after Tuesday’s attack cost about $90 million.

‘You stay with your own mind’

It is not just Kyiv that has been affected. Cities such as Kharkiv in the east and Odesa in the south have also suffered near darkness.

In central Ukraine’s Poltava, Anatoli, a 54-year-old car mechanic, told Al Jazeera he now gets electricity only for a few hours at night. He works in his garage in the early morning hours when the lights are on.

He is considering leaving Ukraine.

“I will leave as soon as they open the borders,” he said.

In a restaurant in the city’s centre, 23-year-old Maxim Senschuk told Al Jazeera that staying at home with no electricity can affect a person’s mental state: “You stay with your own mind”.

He bemoaned a “psychological war on society”, but added, “All my family, friends, we are not scared, it has been four years [of war]. Now we are just bored with this”.