People gather at an overlook near the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra as smoke rises from a Russian drone strike in Boryspil district, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine, on Aug. 27, 2026. (Diego Fedele / Getty Images)On the last day of summer in Kyiv, the city’s residents, young and old, made the most of the hot weather by sunbathing on the sandy banks of the Dnipro River, even as dozens of drones were being shot down overhead.But as the sun sets on the final warm weeks, memories of last winter — when homes went weeks without heat and electricity in temperatures as low as minus 25 degrees Celsius — are setting in. Ukraine has yet to fully repair the damage Russia inflicted, while Moscow is likely to escalate, producing record numbers of jet-powered drones and ballistic missiles as Ukraine’s air defenses run thin."I dream that this winter won’t be as bad as the last. But I think it will probably be worse," Tamara Stukalenko, a 75-year-old resident, told the Kyiv Independent.Tamara Stukalenko spends the last day of summer relaxing on the beach on Trukhaniv Island in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Aug. 31, 2026. (Elena Kalinichenko/The Kyiv Independent)"Now Russia has come up with a new system for us: these constant air raid alerts. And then, when it comes time for the heating season, they'll probably launch even more (attacks). And that's frightening."Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Aug. 31 the country is prepared to go into winter with 19.6 gigawatts (GW) of generation planned by November and strong gas and coal reserves. But most people on the beach expect this winter to be worse or at least the same as the last one, when Russia wiped out 9 GW of energy generation.Behind the government’s positive messaging, authorities have made little progress tackling the core issues of the energy crisis over the last seven months, despite an "Energy Resilience Plan" announced in March, several energy officials told the Kyiv Independent.The plans were supposed to guarantee facilities were protected and repaired in time, with additional backup heat and energy equipment installed. But they are far from complete, as Ukraine lacks funding, equipment, air defense, and energy specialists, with no clear answers on how to solve the issues, those officials said.
Ukrainians know another hard winter is coming. Their government isn’t ready
On the last day of summer in Kyiv, the city’s residents, young and old, made the most of the hot weather by sunbathing on the sandy banks of the Dnipro River, even as dozens of drones were being shot down overhead. But as the sun sets on the final warm weeks, memories of last winter — when homes went weeks without heat and electricity in temperatures as low as minus 25 degrees Celsius — are setting in. Ukraine has yet to fully repair the damage Russia inflicted, while Moscow is likely to escala
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