Ukraine Braces for Worst Wartime Winter

The government in Kyiv is preparing for the cold months based on a worst-case scenario, while residents are stocking up on supplies. Some are considering relocating or leaving the country, while others are buying firewood, equipment and warm clothing.

Last winter’s prolonged sub-zero temperatures brought weeks-long disruptions to heating, water and sewage services in major cities. A key vulnerability is centralized heating, which relies on large heating plants and networks of pipes. If major equipment is damaged, entire neighborhoods can be left without heat. If repairs take too long, systems may have to be drained to prevent water from freezing and pipes from bursting.

In Kyiv’s Troeshchyna district, hundreds of thousands of residents endured heating outages alongside disruptions to electricity and water as temperatures fell below -20C. One Kyiv resident told Bloomberg that panic buying had driven firewood prices up roughly 70%–80% from last year.

Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi has pledged to expand the network of invincibility points, where people can warm up, charge their devices and get hot meals. He has also asked foreign partners to send repair crews to help restore electricity, heating and water supplies.

A critical problem remains the shortage of Patriot interceptor missiles needed to counter Russian ballistic missiles. President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine needs at least 300 interceptors for the winter.

Russia has significantly reduced its use of ballistic missiles since August, possibly indicating that it is stockpiling them for winter strikes on energy infrastructure. Germany and some other European countries have said they will buy more Patriot systems and send missiles from their own stocks to Ukraine. There is little sign of Russia agreeing to an energy truce.

(Bloomberg, bak)