Russian attacks on Ukraine's power grid are continuing to disrupt daily life, marking the third consecutive winter of hardship for millions. People are forced to adapt to cope with the challenges. DW's Max Zander reports from Kyiv.
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00:00After dark, the steady hum of diesel generators can be heard all over the city.
00:08Business owners have found ways to deal with the frequent power cuts
00:13caused by Russia's attacks on Ukraine's power grid.
00:16And so have families.
00:22Daria and Serhii are just returning home
00:25with three-year-old Vasya and Sonya, their golden retriever.
00:31They live on the 24th floor.
00:35I once measured how long it takes, without bags, walking calmly like this.
00:43It takes me about five minutes.
00:49Living this high up means that when the power is down,
00:52it's not just the lifts that stop.
00:55The water pumps are out too.
01:00We bought ourselves barrels to collect water.
01:03We have 20 liters here below, 20 liters here, 40 liters here,
01:08and here we have our large-caliber 80 liters.
01:14Water, heating, and Internet can be affected by the planned power cuts
01:19that last for several hours every day.
01:23People who can afford them power lamps and small devices off batteries.
01:29We're into our third year of this war,
01:31so people are adept at using different solutions.
01:34They're keeping entire apartments going.
01:36Looking at our house from the street, you might not realize we have no power.
01:39The lights are on in many flats.
01:41We're lucky here. Some older houses are dark,
01:43and people are still sitting around candles.
01:47They worry about not being able to take their daughter to a shelter
01:51during the air raid when the elevators are out.
01:55But they know that others find themselves in far worse situations.
02:02There are many large cities, like Dnipro, Zaporizhia, Kharkiv,
02:07where there's also no electricity.
02:11Those cities along the front line are full of pensioners who stayed.
02:15These people have nowhere else to go. They can't afford to.
02:19These are the people who are the most vulnerable,
02:21and they are the ones who are suffering badly right now.
02:24And we simply cannot even imagine how difficult it is for them right now.
02:33Ukraine has limited air defense capabilities.
02:35Until that situation improves, the residents of Kiev will rely on their ability
02:40to adapt to another winter of Russian attacks and power cuts.
02:45For more UN videos visit www.un.org