Ukrainians share tips on Threads to survive winter power cuts : NPR
A resident of kyiv, Ukraine, helps his 2-year-old daughter use a headlight during a power outage in his apartment amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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Andrew Kravchenko/AFP via Getty Images
kyiv — After Russia’s repeated attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid, Ukrainians are facing lengthy heat, electricity and water outages during the coldest winter since Russia’s full-scale invasion nearly four years ago.
After an attack on January 9, nearly 6,000 homes were left without heat in kyiv, according to the city’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko. Utilities and energy workers worked around the clock to restore power to nearly all of those homes last week. But less than two weeks later, another attack knocked out the electricity again.
Heating systems shut down because their pumps and control panels rely on electricity. Without electricity or heating, a modern skyscraper becomes a box of cold concrete, with panoramic windows offering a breathtaking view of the Dnipro River, a source of cold.
With temperatures outside dropping to near zero degrees Fahrenheit and everywhere covered in ice and snow, power outages have chilled Ukrainian homes so much that windows have frozen over inside and some people can see their breath inside. NPR spoke with several kyiv residents who said they manage by wearing their coats indoors, cooking with portable stoves and sleeping under multiple layers of blankets.
A large screen on a building displays -14 degrees Celsius in kyiv, Ukraine, January 14.
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Long power outages amid freezing temperatures have left people exhausted, psychologist Yulia Babiak told NPR.
On social media, Ukrainians are sharing tips, including photos of homemade heaters made from bricks and candles, as well as articles about makeshift ways to stay warm at home. In stores, the shelves that once housed portable gas stoves, heaters and chemical heaters are now almost empty. For many city dwellers, these camping supplies have become the only way to stay warm, cook, or heat water.
In January, the sun sets in kyiv at 5:30 p.m., plunging the capital into twilight and then darkness until sunrise the next morning at 7:30 a.m. Every home now has several types of battery-powered flashlights, USB lights and Christmas lights. In cafes and restaurants, people dine to the sound of flickering candles and the hum of generators.
NPR’s kyiv bureau is running on backup power, batteries and a diesel generator, but that’s not enough. Staff must therefore warm themselves with blankets and hot water bottles.
People warm themselves in a tent provided by emergency services for residents whose apartments are left without heating in subzero temperatures, amid the Russian attack on Ukraine, on a winter day in kyiv, Ukraine, January 13, 2026.
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Thomas Pierre/Reuters
For those who have failed to purchase portable gas heaters and stoves, firebricks have become a popular product. Users of the social network Threads show how to increase the temperature in a room by several degrees using simple homemade heaters. Those who have gas in their apartment or house place bricks on the gas stove. When heated, the bricks release heat and warm the room. Those who live in high-rise buildings where gas is not used create a structure from candles, barbecue grills and bricks placed on the grill. This method is effective but also dangerous. Netizens also remind users of the importance of using carbon monoxide and smoke detectors.
A safer and equally popular way to stay warm is to use a regular camping tent. As social media users have discovered, if you set up a tent directly in the bedroom and put a few plastic bottles filled with hot water in it, you will sleep warmer. Those without camping experience and/or equipment remember their childhood and build tents with blankets. In general, most social media users agree that hot water bottles in bed are the easiest and safest way to stay warm at night. They write that the heat from the bottles lasts about four to five hours. Electric blankets are useful if they can be plugged in.
Customers wait outside a coffee stand powered by an electric generator during a planned outage in central Lviv, Ukraine, following Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
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Businesses with generators are also taking to social media to offer shelter and assistance to those without power or electricity. In addition to mobile heating points set up by state emergency services and charities, residents are creating their own shelters.
Cafes, gas stations and local residents treat workers of utility and energy companies involved in the repair of hot coffee and snacks.
People sit in a dimly lit bar by candlelight during a power outage in kyiv, Ukraine, January 22, following Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure amid the Russian invasion.
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Roman Pilipey/AFP via Getty Images
Tired of the darkness, the cold and the inability to prepare hot meals, residents of one of kyiv’s districts gathered for a barbecue. It turned into a real “resilience” party with music, mulled wine and dancing to warm up.
Taisiia Nechytailo, owner of a beauty salon, offers local residents free hair washing if they do not have hot water at home or the opportunity to work on their laptop in the salon, which has an independent power source and uninterrupted Internet access.
“The Russian tactic of going after the energy sector, trying to leave us without light and heat, is not working,” Nechytailo told NPR. “We are getting angrier and angrier and know exactly what we are fighting for.”
