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At the outdoor winter fair in Kyiv’s main exposition center, there was a game booth where people paid money to shoot BB guns at paper targets with pictures of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Oleh, an electrical engineer, recently braved the -14 C temperature one night to go out with his wife, Tatiana, to take pictures.
“If we can’t have fun in this situation, we’ll all be destroyed,” he told CBC News, as a pellet hit a mark on Putin’s paper forehead.
“We are in a difficult situation, but people need a break.”
Since October, Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities have suffered relentless attacks from the skies by Iranian-made cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and drones – all launched by Russia in an attempt to destroy the country’s basic infrastructure.
Many have hit the mark, forcing Ukrainians from one end of the country to another to endure frequent blackouts, cold nights and no running water, as the invasion by Russia approaches the first anniversary on February 24.
But Ukrainians have turned this winter’s potentially catastrophic situation into something manageable, with a demonstration of collective resilience.
“Ukraine’s level of resilience as a whole is very high. It even surprised us,” said Oleksiy Melnyk, a former Ukrainian air force lieutenant colonel who is now a public policy thinker at the Razumkov Center in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine.
“We are not waiting for the government to provide us with an alternative. We are just doing what we can.”
The winter market brings ‘joy’ in the dark
Across the country, the sound of generators has become Ukraine’s new soundtrack.
In the winter market, for example, on the evening CBC News opens, the power has been out since 10 o’clock in the morning.
Oleksandr Zhdanov, market manager, uses a diesel generator to heat the changing area and maintain a chain of colorful party lights around the outdoor skating rink.
“Every day we have to buy about 100 liters of diesel fuel. So we have to drive to the gas station, buy it and bring it back,” he said.
Keeping the outdoor rink and attractions at the Expo Center operating while the city deals with Russian attacks is important, Zhdanov said.
“If we don’t have electricity in Kyiv, people need these places to go out,” he said, adding that everyone was “happy”.
In Kyiv, the power can sometimes go out for eight hours in a 24-hour period, and while there is a timetable to help people plan for dark and cold periods, sometimes new attacks disrupt the blackout.
‘Soldiers on the medical front’
No one is exempt from saving power – not even at the Kyiv Heart Institute, one of the most famous hospitals in the capital.
On a recent visit, CBC News was taken through dark corridors and rooms lit only by emergency lights to one of the main operating theatres.
“Now we are working [as if] we are in a submarine,” said director Dr. Borys Todurov, 58, one of Ukraine’s top heart surgeons.
Besides adjusting to the chronically bleak conditions, the hospital must be self-sufficient, with food, water and supplies for three months at a time – just in case the city returns to the same crisis. The Russian army invaded Ukraine last February.
Many staff members spent weeks in hospital without coming home, as beds filled with military and civilian casualties from the Russian attack.
Practically every hallway in a hospital today is stacked with boxes of medical supplies and spare equipment.
However, frequent power outages are a challenge for medical staff – and even with hospital backup generators, there are sometimes gaps in power.
“We are like soldiers, but not with guns, only with scalpels. These are medical instruments, but we feel like soldiers on the medical front, all of us,” said Todurov.
He allowed CBC News to observe him perform open-heart surgery on a 70-year-old patient with acute coronary disease.
“The last time we lost electricity, we had 10 patients that we operated on. But we continued the operation and completed it without complications,” he said, noting that his team had learned how to perform complex procedures using flashlights with battery lights.
Other equipment, such as cardiopulmonary bypass machines, also have battery backups.
“We have adapted to this situation, and we will continue to work like this as long as necessary.”
Residents return to the hardships continue
Elsewhere in the capital region, open wounds inflicted on neighborhoods briefly occupied by Russian forces last spring are also being treated and repaired.
Driving through Bucha, where between 170 and 450 civilians were killed by Russian forces – depending on the United Nations or Ukrainian estimates – many apartments were filled again with their families who had returned.
Buildings damaged by artillery fire and gunfire during the war that lined the streets of the suburbs were being repaired, and the sound of hammering and sawing echoed in many areas.
“We have a comfortable life. Now it’s more difficult than before, but we’re used to it and overcome it,” said Natalia Sokolovska, 36, who was in the park with friends, watching her children.
“There weren’t many people at first. But then they started coming back and coming back,” said Iryna Murashkova, 34.
But running generators all the time is expensive — about $40 a day — so many families have learned to keep warm clothes inside and charge things like cellphones strategically.
When the power came back on, Murashkova said, her family got several hours of hot water, which they used for bathing and laundry.
“We thought we had to escape again. But now I’m not packed and I’m living at home,” he said. “I hope this is the last winter like this, so give me strength.”
Since the beginning of winter, international aid has spread across the borders with other European countries to help Ukraine repair the damaged electricity grid and help families cope with the challenge.
One unusual donation came from the Central Asian country of Kazakhstan, which has donated several unique heating stations that are currently being set up in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.
Dubbed the “Yurts of Invincibility,” they are modeled after traditional Kazakh houses and decorated with exotic rugs and various other Kazakh touches.
Inside, a heater provides respite from the cold, there is a charging station for phones and volunteers serve meals and traditional rice “plov.”
“It shows that Ukrainians are not alone,” said Vitaly Karchuliak, a Ukrainian of Kazakh background who welcomes people to his yurt in Bucha.
“We are unbreakable. And I will manage to finish this season, and we will come in spring and summer and we will be ready for another challenge.”
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