- January 23, 2026
- 8:39 pm
- Ukraine
On January 22, 2026, Ukrainian correspondent for the Israeli publication “Vesti” Eduard Dox wrote from Kyiv about the situation in which the capital of Ukraine found itself amid a severe energy crisis. His article was published under the headline “In Darkness, in Bitter Cold: How Jews and Israelis Survive in Kyiv” — a wording that may seem incorrect in relation to all Ukrainian citizens experiencing these trials equally, including the Jewish community of the country as an integral part of Ukrainian society. Nevertheless, it is about the perspective of an Israeli publication and its correspondent, who consciously focuses on the fate of Jewish communities and Israelis in Kyiv as one of the facets of the overall humanitarian reality of a warring city.
The capital of Ukraine is currently experiencing the most severe energy blow since the start of the full-scale war. After another round of Russian attacks on critical infrastructure, more than six thousand high-rise buildings were left without heating. Kyiv plunged into darkness and cold, and utility services increasingly admit: restoring stable heat and power supply by the end of the heating season — that is, by mid-April — may not be possible.
The city’s mayor Vitaliy Klitschko reported that more than 600,000 residents left Kyiv in January alone. Meanwhile, the frosts in the capital do not subside, and power outages become more prolonged and unpredictable.
The city’s energy system has repeatedly suffered from strikes on power plants, substations, and power lines. Even partial damage causes a chain reaction of emergency shutdowns. If in December the schedules allowed Kyiv residents to somehow plan their day — to do laundry, cook food, charge phones and power banks — today many residents can only dream of rare minutes of power supply.
The lights are turned off for long periods, sometimes almost the entire day. There are times when there is no electricity for a day or more, which directly affects the operation of elevators, mobile communications, the internet, and transport. Electricity is closely linked to heating: during outages, pumps and boiler houses stop, making homes cold, and hot water is supplied intermittently or disappears completely. Even where there is no direct destruction, the networks operate at their limit. Old equipment is not designed for such loads, especially in winter when consumption sharply increases.
Residents are forced to adapt. People work from apartments without light, warm themselves with heaters during short hours of electricity supply, stock up on candles, batteries, generators. Hospitals, heating points, and critical infrastructure facilities operate on backup power sources.
Constant uncertainty — whether there will be light, heat, and communication today — increases fatigue and anxiety. It is especially hard for the elderly and families with children. Overall, the energy crisis in Kyiv is not a one-time failure but a prolonged state of survival for the city in wartime conditions, where recovery is ongoing, but stability remains fragile.
Against this backdrop, the “Vesti” correspondent addressed the question of how Israelis and members of Jewish communities live in Kyiv.
Chaim Kapelnikov, CEO of AVIS Ukraine, says that heating is maintained in his apartment, although the water pressure was temporarily reduced. Power supply is provided by an installed battery system. A generator operates in the office, so there is light, heat, and hot water there. The company monitors the situation of employees, helps in problematic cases, allowed temporary departures from Kyiv, and provides the opportunity for remote work. The office is open for employees to stay overnight, and drinking water has been purchased. Despite the difficulties, work continues.
The Chief Rabbi of Kyiv Yonatan Markovich notes that the community continues to feed people and provide medical assistance. The elderly often catch colds in frozen apartments, but injuries due to ice are even more dangerous. Ambulances cannot always arrive quickly, so the community has its own ambulance. Even with a powerful generator, it is impossible to fully heat the building — it is enough only for the synagogue, kitchen, and dining room.
During the energy crisis, more people come to the community — both for Shabbat meetings and daily circles. At the same time, the rabbi notes an increase in anti-Semitic statements in the Ukrainian segment of social networks, which was almost not observed a year ago.
CHABAD envoy Eli Badihi, working at a Jewish school on the Left Bank of Kyiv, says that the last weeks have been a real test. Electricity is supplied for only 3-4 hours a day, and heating works unstably. At night, hot water bottles and several blankets save, during the day you have to walk around the apartment in outerwear. Great help is provided by so-called Centers of Indomitability — tents with warmth, tea, and the ability to charge phones.
Weekends spent in Anatevka with the Chief Rabbi of Ukraine Moshe Asman became an opportunity for many to warm up and regain strength. The territory is equipped with generators, and both Jews and non-Jews come there — the count goes into hundreds of people. Rabbi Asman simultaneously continues to travel around Kyiv with a mitzvah tank, helping freezing residents with hot tea and the ability to charge gadgets.
It is especially hard for children. In schools, they have to go down to shelters several times a day and spend hours there. They come to classes sleep-deprived, with red eyes. Childhood in such conditions turns into a series of anxieties and expectations of new strikes.
Israeli Reaction
Amid the difficult situation of Jewish communities in Ukraine, an emergency meeting on the energy crisis and assistance to Jews there was convened in Israel on January 22. The initiators were the co-chairman of the Israel-Ukraine intergovernmental commission and a minister in the Ministry of Finance Ze’ev Elkin, overseeing the activities of the “Nativ” service, as well as the chairman of the Jewish Agency Sokhnut Doron Almog.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Anti-Semitism, the Israeli Foreign Ministry, the “Nativ” service, and “Joint”. The reason was the appeals of the leaders of Jewish communities in Ukraine for emergency assistance. Participants discussed the current situation of the communities and urgent support measures in the conditions of a protracted energy crisis.
The story told from Kyiv is not an attempt to separate one group from another. It is the view of an Israeli correspondent on the general crisis of the city, where all residents suffer equally, and Jewish communities and Israelis are part of Ukrainian society and the common struggle for survival. It is this context that is important to consider when reading such materials. And it is precisely for this reason that such texts appear on the pages of NANews — News of Israel | Nikk.Agency, capturing reality without illusions and simplifications.
