In recent weeks, Dagblad van het Noorden de Leeuwarder Courant asked people in Ukraine how they live without electricity, heating and hot water. Oleg Shetlichnyy wrote this contribution.
“When Ukraine became independent in 1991, I was 11 years old. I remember well how in the first years of independence we sometimes had no electricity for two or three days due to economic problems. And in 1993, the water supply in our village in the Donbas stopped.”
Getting water
“My classmates and I earned money in our free time by collecting water from wells and bringing it in buckets to apartments on the 4th or 5th floor. Apparently this childhood experience helped me stay calm when I was without electricity, gas and water in April, after the Russians withdrew from Irpin. I found it more difficult that communication was not possible.”
“In the early days of the war, in a bomb shelter, we always received online information from telegram channels, viber chats and internet sites. Paradoxical as it may seem, but hearing the enemy artillery in the basement when you know what the situation is like outside is one experience. But hearing enemy fire continuously and not knowing what is going on around you goes much deeper.”
Help Ukraine NOW!
The higher the proceeds of this action, the more help can be offered. For example, a good generator for a hospital costs 35 thousand euros. There are damaged apartment complexes where twenty families lived before the war, which are now uninhabitable. But for an amount of 50 thousand euros can be repaired. And for a hundred euros, a hundred loaves of bread can be bought on the spot – many people in Ukraine depend on food aid. Every gift, big or small, counts! Donate via the QR code below or on https://whydonate.nl/nl/fundraising/help-oekraine-nu .
“This fall brought us new challenges. In response to the successful actions of the armed forces of Ukraine, Russia carried out massive missile strikes against energy infrastructure. The long absence of electricity became a new experience for the people of Kiev, but for us in Irpin it was like a continuation of a bad movie we had already seen.”
Spoiled
“My friend from Kiev was surprised to hear that after three days without electricity nothing had gone bad in our fridge. I had to explain to him that since the beginning of the war, the vast majority of Irpin residents do not keep food in the fridge that can spoil quickly. After all, we know what happens when the power goes out for days or weeks. And if we do keep supplies in the fridge, it’s only for two or three days.”
“As a child I read in a book that even in good weather people in London took an umbrella with them when they went to work. Because in England the weather can change quickly and it can just start raining.”
“In Irpin you now take power banks and chargers to work. Because maybe you’re lucky and there is electricity at work and you can ‘bring power home’. People who were in Irpin in the spring even bring car batteries and inverters to work.”
“Whereas the street scene in London, according to the book, was determined by people with an umbrella, in Irpin you now see many people with batteries or generators on the street.”
“Speaking of generators, my son Dima has already learned to distinguish them by the sound they make. He likes the sound of some generators more than others. According to Dima, some generators sound melodious, like a chant. Others, he says, sound like a drum kit. Sometimes you can hear an entire orchestra of generators on the street.”
“If you hear the sound of the larger generators near shops, it means you can do your shopping. That you can drink hot coffee and pick up your long-awaited parcels at the post office.”