(feature article)

The past few days in Kyiv have been a constant dance with the electricity grid. Rolling blackouts have become a part of our daily routine, a new normal nobody asked for. We all have schedules – not just class timetables or work shifts – but power outage schedules too. Waking up to the hum of the refrigerator is a small victory these days, a sign you might have internet for a few precious hours.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s a network of ‘Points of Invincibility’ set up by the city – places with generators, the internet, and heat where you can charge your phone and grab a warm drink. But let’s be real, six hours without light stretches into a long, cold evening, especially when you’re juggling university classes online and a part-time job.

Cramming for exams by candlelight may seem romantic in theory, but the reality is eye strain and a crick in your neck. Coordinating work video calls can be a logistical nightmare, with everyone scrambling for a charged device and a sliver of internet signal.

Yet, amidst the frustration, there’s a quiet resilience that defines Kyiv right now. We find ways. We work with colleagues during the brief windows of shared power. We use flashlights for homework and gather around the building’s lone working outlet to charge laptops.

Life in Kyiv may run on a schedule these days, a schedule dictated by the flick of a power switch. But Ukrainians are a resourceful bunch. We adapt, we improvise, we find ways to keep the lights of hope burning, even when the physical ones are out.