Wintry weather has already come to Ukraine’s capital Kyiv. Night time temperatures are dipping below zero.
The heating is normally turned on across the country by mid-October but the move was delayed because of concerns over future gas supplies.
Kyiv resident Sergiy Popov said: “My radiator is cold and it stays cold. When you come home in the evening, and no one has switched on either the kitchen stove or heater – it’s very hard to be in the apartment. I’m afraid to take my clothes off – because you can really feel this cold.”
In Donetsk in the war-torn east of Ukraine, people are praying for a warm winter and an end to war. Many homes are already without electricity and gas shortages would mean even more hardship ahead.
Donetsk resident Anastasia Gushchina fears her damaged house won’t last the winter: “The whole place is going to collapse under the weight of the snow if it’s not repaired before winter. Snow, frost, then it all will melt and collapse.”
It is estimated that around ten percent of the city has been destroyed.
With energy companies warning the country does not have enough gas to survive the cold season, Ukrainians can only hope their leaders will resolve the dispute soon.
