At a suburban railway station outside Kyiv, two blue-and-white Ukrainian Railways carriages stand on the main platform with their engines running as snow falls steadily. The train is not scheduled to depart, yet it has become a lifeline for dozens of residents who have lost electricity, heating, and running water due to Russian attacks on the city’s energy network.
These carriages are part of Ukraine’s “Invincibility Trains,” a program created to support civilians through the harsh winter and to help maintain morale as airstrikes intensify. Inside, families find warmth, light, food, and a temporary escape from the freezing conditions outside.
Alina sits in one of the coaches watching her young son, Taras, play with toys donated by international charities. Outside, temperatures in Kyiv have dropped as low as minus 19 degrees Celsius when wind chill is included. Alina explains that she lives on the 17th floor of a new building, but without electricity there is no elevator, no water, and no heating. For her, the train has become both a safe place for her children and a space to briefly forget the hardships of daily life.
Her voice breaks when she speaks about her father, who was killed two years ago during fighting near Bakhmut. Still, she says she will return to the train whenever she can, grateful for the warmth and shelter it offers during nights marked by cold and the threat of missile strikes.
Ukraine’s leadership says Russia is deliberately using winter as a weapon. President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Moscow of targeting power plants, storage facilities, and other key infrastructure. Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, recently suggested that those who can should temporarily leave the city to reduce pressure on energy supplies, a remark Russia has portrayed as a sign of weakness.
Despite the difficulties, many residents remain determined to endure. For Yulia Mykhailiuk and her husband Ihor Honcharuk, this means heating bricks on a gas stove to warm their small apartment, where they now live with their one-year-old son after their home was damaged in a Russian strike last summer. On some days, they receive electricity for only a few minutes, barely enough to recharge their devices.
With temperatures falling well below zero and no reliable heating, the family plans to leave Kyiv temporarily and stay with relatives outside the city. Their decision has also been influenced by the danger nearby, as a Russian drone recently struck an apartment block just across their courtyard.
Kyiv’s energy crisis has been worsened by repeated attacks on infrastructure in a city of more than three million people. Officials say the latest strikes have caused the most severe power outages yet, leaving hundreds of residential buildings without electricity. Energy experts warn that each round of damage is harder to repair in freezing conditions, with cables and grids buried under ice.
Engineers from private companies and city authorities are working day and night to restore power, digging through frozen ground to reach damaged lines. However, they admit that most fixes are temporary. Equipment is running at its limits, just to provide minimal electricity for lighting and basic needs.
Back on the Invincibility Train, people of all ages come to warm up, charge phones, and talk with others. Eleven-year-old Stanislav, known as Stas, says his family recently went 36 hours without power. He still remembers the first day of the invasion, when he saw flashes of light in the sky as missiles struck. Now, the sound of drones keeps him awake at night, unsure whether the next one will explode nearby.
An air raid alert eventually forces everyone off the train and toward shelters. Some return home to their dark, cold apartments, but many say they will come back the next day, relying on the train for warmth and comfort.
As Kyiv endures its fourth winter since the full-scale invasion began, residents know the cold will eventually pass. What worries them far more is the war itself, which shows no clear sign of ending and continues to bring loss, fear, and uncertainty to everyday life.
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