KYIV, Ukraine
Olena Janchuk, trapped on the 19th floor of her Kyiv high-rise, lives in a deepening freeze. She spends her days isolated and cold, a prisoner of Russia’s systematic bombing of Ukraine’s energy grid.
The former kindergarten teacher, who suffers from severe rheumatoid arthritis, is stranded 650 steps from the ground.
Relentless blackouts have left elevators useless, and January temperatures have plunged to -10 Celsius (14 Fahrenheit). A permanent line of frost now etches the inside of her windows.
To survive, the 53-year-old huddles over a makeshift fireplace—candles placed beneath stacked bricks to absorb and radiate heat. USB cables snake across the floor from overloaded power strips, and she rations a power bank for her electric blanket during the coldest hours.
Her apartment is a microcosm of life under siege: a desperate, daily struggle for warmth and power as Moscow wages a winter war on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure.
By James Kisoo
