Translated material
War
One thousand four hundred and forty-sixth day. Klitschko said that the coming days will be difficult for Kyiv due to severe frosts. Gladkov said that in Belgorod 80 thousand people remain without heat
Since February 24, 2022, Meduza has been broadcasting live about the Russian-Ukrainian war. We publish your letters every day because we are sure that we need to continue talking about the war. Share with us your thoughts about the war. What feelings are you experiencing? How does war affect your life and your attitude towards the world? If you have a story related to the war, tell it . The feedback form is at the end of this article. A review of the previous day can be read here .
Ukraine
The mayor of Kyiv, Vitaliy Klitschko, said that the next few days will be very difficult for the Ukrainian capital due to the upcoming frosts.
“Severe frosts are again predicted in the capital, particularly at night. Due to the extremely difficult situation in the Ukrainian energy system after another massive enemy shelling, emergency outages continue in most regions of the country. According to the Ministry of Energy, residents of the capital receive electricity only for one and a half to two hours,” he wrote in his Telegram channel.
Klitschko said that he instructed the heads of district administrations to ensure the proper operation of heating points: they should have heating, electricity and food. “So that residents of Kyiv can come warm up and charge their devices, drink hot tea and have a snack,” the mayor added.
The difficult situation in the energy system after Russian shelling on the night of January 6-7 was also reported by the largest private energy company DTEK.
“Two DTEK thermal power plants and key high-voltage substations were damaged. Due to damage to high-voltage substations, nuclear power plants were forced to unload. Ukraine has lost a significant part of its available electricity. <…> The most difficult thing is in Kyiv. Due to long-term impacts on infrastructure, there is currently only one and a half to two hours of light a day. Difficult days lie ahead,” the message said.
Russia
The governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said on the morning of February 8 that “a rather difficult situation continues” in Belgorod after the shelling of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Restoring energy supply “is extremely difficult,” the head of the region emphasized.
According to him, about 80 thousand people in Belgorod remain without heating. In addition, three thousand residents of the region do not have gas, and a thousand do not have electricity. Gladkov clarified that in the coming hours electricity and gas will be supplied to the apartments again.
“The big problem remains only with heat. We are expecting heat to be supplied by 12 noon,” the governor said.
Gladkov announced the opening of additional heating points: “In addition to those that we planned in the central part, where there is no heat, we are opening additional ones, not throughout the city, but where there is a need.”
Update. Gladkov later reported that the authorities decided to begin draining the heating systems in 455 apartment buildings, 25 kindergartens, 17 schools, nine clinics and four universities. He also proposed removing children and elderly people from the city. “If you have children of school age: you leave, as in 2024-2025, your applications with the Belgorod city administration, and we send children to other regions - to those places that are already familiar, such as the Republic of Crimea, and to nearby regions - we are now talking with the governors. We will submit applications to the Ministry of Emergency Situations to send our children on trains. <...> The next thing is sending large families, families with disabled children and pensioners living alone - those categories that, of course, require maximum attention, and therefore we are also ready to move them to other regions. Applications are the same, to the Belgorod city administration,” Gladkov said.
War in photographs. Consequences of Russian shelling of Kramatorsk
The national police of Ukraine reported that on the morning of February 8, Russian troops dropped two aerial bombs on a residential area in Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region. As a result, a 77-year-old woman died and three other residents were injured. Residential buildings and cars were damaged.
War through the eyes of Meduza readers
How we choose letters
Meduza's readers live in different countries and have different attitudes towards the war. We publish your letters to see this event through your eyes. Our editors try to present all points of view, even if they do not coincide with the editorial position. However, in accordance with the Meduza code, we do not publish messages that contain “hate speech,” justify the murder of civilians, or express direct support for an aggressive war.
Sasha (Moscow) . I’m reading all these letters, I’m reading pompous discussions about good and evil, about hope. Meanwhile, the majority of Russians are deeply indifferent to the fate of the Ukrainians, they don’t care about the war, they don’t care what’s going on there, who’s fighting with whom, as long as no one touches them. People are satisfied with poverty, bans, sanctions, Internet restrictions. And those who have money, even more so, have seen it all in their graves. “Everyone is just really scared.” Yes, of course, it’s scary, but this fear is petty, sanctimonious. Everyone chose the tactics of the last century: just sit and wait until the regime devours itself and decays, and then we will live again. How long should we wait this time? What will change? In fact, nothing. And this regime will not go anywhere if you just sit back and endure. How long can you tolerate? No one will save you, there is no Uncle Styopa - a policeman who will lead you across the road by the hand. Until you start taking responsibility for your life, nothing will change and the war will continue endlessly.