KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Matvii Yermolenko is 2, but he already knows the words for siren and air defense.
asserted
he → know → defense
This winter, his mother decided to take him out of Kyiv.
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mother → decide → Kyiv
“There is sadness, but even stronger is the understanding of what I have to do — leave,” Matvii’s mother, Kateryna Tsvihun, said, adding that they will come back in spring.
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they → be → spring
“I cannot live without Kyiv and Ukraine.
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I → live → Kyiv
I am rooted here, my child is Ukrainian, and my husband is fighting for this.
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husband → root → this
Ukrainians are bracing for what many expect to be the hardest winter of the war.
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many → brace → war
Last year, heating disruptions left thousands of people in freezing apartments in Kyiv.
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disruptions → leave → Kyiv
Now, officials and analysts say, the badly damaged energy system is increasingly struggling to withstand attacks, putting the country’s resilience to another test.
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system → say → test
With no end to the war in sight, many people are thinking only about getting through the coming months.
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people → think → months
Since Aug. 22, not a single day has passed in the capital without an air raid threat, often followed by drone attacks during the day and missiles at night.
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day → pass → night
Some residents have moved to other parts of the country or abroad for the winter.
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residents → move → winter
While it’s impossible to calculate how many people left the capital, changes in the rental market offer a possible clue.
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changes → ’ → clue
“In September, we saw that the number of flats available to rent was increasing in Kyiv, whilst it was decreasing in a number of western cities,” Liudmyla Kiriukhina, the head of the statistics department at LUN, a Ukrainian real estate platform, said.
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Kiriukhina → see → LUN
“This could have indicated that tenants were moving from the capital to the west of the country.
uncertain
tenants → indicate → country
Exploiting its advantage in jet-powered drones and ballistic missiles, Russia has expanded its targets in the city to include gas stations, data centers, warehouses, big-box stores and bridges that are crucial for civilian transport in a city divided by the Dnieper River.
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that → exploit → River
Electricity disruptions have caused problems on the subway, Kyiv’s main transport artery, while water supply issues are increasingly common.
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issues → cause → subway
Some residents have also criticized local authorities’ winter preparations.
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residents → criticize → preparations
But leaving costs money, and many more are staying, stocking up on power banks, water containers and portable gas stoves.
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many → leave → banks
Protecting their children, some Ukrainians leave for the winter
Kateryna Tsvihun, 41, found last winter very difficult.
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Tsvihun → protect → winter
She could not bear the thought of her son going through more power outages, let alone possibly losing heating as well.
uncertain
son → bear → heating
So she told her husband, a soldier since 2022, that she wanted to spend this winter elsewhere.
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she → tell → winter
She could not find a suitable option in Ukraine, but a Facebook group for mothers who like to travel led her to one in Albania.
uncertain
who → find → Albania
“The birth of a child is the ultimate game-changer,” she said.
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she → say → child
“Before, no matter how scared I was, I stayed in Kyiv and did not even think about leaving.”
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I → stay → Kyiv
Russia recently struck an area near a subway station where she and Matvii often go for walks.
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she → strike → walks
“It’s a bit scary to stay,” she said.
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she → ’ → ?
“But it’s still our home, so we will come back this spring.”
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we → ’ → ?
She gave her portable power station, power banks and rechargeable lamps to relatives staying in the capital.
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She → give → capital
For the trip, she bought a large, light-blue suitcase, packing only with practical things and a few of Matvii’s small toys.
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she → buy → toys
“I see it as an opportunity to exhale, because the tiredness and pressure have been piling up over these years of war, the lonely waiting for my husband, and the attacks,” she said.
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she → see → husband
Official says Russia aims to break Kyiv’s morale
Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said Wednesday that Russia had continued to attack power generation facilities and substations.
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Russia → say → facilities
“Attacks on the energy sector are not stopping,” it said in a statement.
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it → stop → statement
“The situation in Kyiv is especially difficult right now: People and businesses are facing many hours of electricity and water outages,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
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Zelenskyy → face → outages
Repeated strikes and constant air raid alerts are making repairs take much longer, he said.
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he → make → ?
“This winter could be just as hard, or even harder than the last one,” Andrii Tkachov, acting head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said.
uncertain
Tkachov → act → Administration
“The enemy will keep striking critical infrastructure and trying to disrupt residents’ heating and water supply.”
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enemy → keep → supply
He said Russia’s aim is to create a crisis and humanitarian and social tensions in the capital, Ukraine’s most populous city and the seat of its main state institutions.
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aim → say → institutions
“The enemy understands that attacks on Kyiv will affect the morale of the entire country.
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attacks → understand → country
The main goal is to break Kyiv,” Tkachov said.
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Tkachov → break → Kyiv
“But, as we say, Kyiv rests on three pillars: air defense, our utility and energy workers, and the self-organization of its residents.”
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Kyiv → say → residents
…and 20 more, not listed.
The Aporia
