CNN
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Kateryna and her husband Oleg have to endure what every citizen of Kyiv must – prolonged power failurehours without an internet connection and constantly worrying about next series of rockets.
But as 2023 begins, they are also preparing for the arrival of twin boys. Kateryna, 34, is eight months pregnant. CNN agreed to use only her and Oleg’s first names because they were concerned about their privacy.
She doesn’t get much rest before the big day. Air raid sirens sounded almost daily, the pounding explosions were all too familiar. Their lives are shaped by scheduled power outages, as electricity is shared between areas to minimize the impact of Russia strike on Ukraine energy infrastructure.
“On New Year’s Eve, I try to get some sleep,” she told CNN from her home on the outskirts of Kyiv. “But I was awakened by the explosions, and they continued throughout the night. The sirens lasted all night, until 4:30 a.m.,” she said.
It is difficult for people to distinguish between the sound of an active air defense system and the impact of cruise missiles and Russian drones.
“I don’t care about power outages,” Kateryna said, “but we do worry about the next wave of Russian missiles. Will it be us? It’s like a constant gamble.”
A nearby district – Vyshhorod – was attacked a month ago, and indiscriminate The nature of the strikes means that residential areas are just as at risk as power plants and railways. Dozens of medical facilities throughout Ukraine, including maternity and children’s hospitals, have been attacked since the beginning of the conflict.
When the sirens didn’t go off, says Kateryna, there was another new noise in her neighborhood: generators whirring as homes and businesses struggled to make up for the lack of electricity. 12 hours per day.
“They are the jingle bells of this Christmas,” she said.
Despite the risks and the impending birth of twins, Kateryna still heads to central Kiev twice a week to use one of the co-working spaces springing up across the Ukrainian capital.
These spaces have become quite professional, with furniture, heating, lighting and reliable internet, delivered through Starlink terminals, purchased from the Elon-owned company Musk.
Kateryna works in logistics, helping to import large containers into Ukraine. It is not just a livelihood. It was also a way to contribute to the war effort.
Kateryna and Oleg are luckier than most Ukrainians in that they have a small generator at home, but they use it sparingly. There is always a risk of running out of diesel to power it – it uses a liter of fuel per hour and needs cooling every four hours. They had to choose which appliance to run: be it a lamp or a washing machine, they said.
They fully expect to need it long after the twins are born.
To live in Kiev during Russia’s war with Ukraine is to be prepared. Kateryna and Oleg have cabinets full of batteries, power banks, and flashlights. If Russia’s missile campaign against Ukraine’s infrastructure continues, as most people expect, scheduled outages could become more unpredictable, with more emergency power cuts. .
“There is enough food in the shops,” says Kateryna, “but sometimes I have to go shopping with a flashlight.” They kept two months’ worth of food piled up in the house, just in case the situation got worse.
Like many from Kyiv, Kateryna and Oleg left the capital for a safer area in western Ukraine when the invasion began last February. But they never wanted to leave the country. And soon, they felt the pull of their hometown pull them back to the city.
“I have a job here; Oleg has a job here and he can’t work remotely. We have many friends here, our home. For me, moving elsewhere is a nightmare,” says Kateryna.
Kateryna feels both are involved in the effort to secure Ukraine’s future. She said that in the early months of her pregnancy, she helped Ukrainian volunteer organizations raise funds to buy warm clothes and equipment for the Ukrainian army.
“The company my husband works for has a fund and they help Ukrainian fighters on the front lines with equipment like drones and pickup trucks. We helped collect money for such devices,” she said.
Like many other Ukrainians, they helped a family that had fled the front lines earlier in the war. The mother gave birth as Russia shelled their hometown of Kreminna in the eastern Luhansk region. When the family settled on the outskirts of Kyiv, Oleg and Kateryna helped them bring warm clothes and food.
Kateryna said she’s not afraid of being a wartime mom. She and Oleg wanted their son to grow up in an environment that was the complete opposite of life under Russian occupation.
“I really want my children to live in a free Ukraine, I want them to be safe. Children have the same right to safety and protection as all other children in the world. I don’t want them to live in fear of dying from a Russian missile, they should be happy and carefree,” she said.
Her only concern – aside from giving birth to healthy children – is that she might find herself lying in the hospital amid another wave of rocket attacks. At that point, she would be praying a lot, she said.
