Kyiv residents juggle school runs, power cuts and Russian drone attacks

On October 22, the air alert in Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, ends at 8:15 am after an explosion in the distance. This allows 44-year-old Anastasiia Zhmutska, a busy mother of three and hospital employee, to finally take her 14-year-old son Orest to school. Since the end of summer, Russia has introduced additional challenges, with Russian drone attacks killing over 190 people in Kyiv since January.

To navigate these threats, Anastasiia meticulously plans her schedule, often altering it based on the risk of strikes. One evening, she took her five-year-old daughter to a relative's home for safety while her husband remained at work. The power network, attacked by Russia, frequently suffers outages, forcing Anastasiia to rely on battery power packs kept at work and makeshift lighting.

Despite the hardships, Anastasiia remains determined, drawing strength from the resilience she has cultivated over the past five years of conflict. The school day brings its own set of challenges, with Literature teacher Nadia Sherekhor noting the impact of Russian attacks on lesson quality. A minute of silence is held daily to remember the victims since 2022.

At school, children are taught coping strategies for anxiety, and they often hide in designated shelters during air alerts. Anastasiia's day is further complicated by the power cuts that disrupt public transport, adding hours to her commute. Her heightened state of alertness is compounded by recent incidents, including a Russian drone attack that wounded a student on her route home.

Despite the numerous challenges, Anastasiia persists, grappling with the question of when she might leave Kyiv, a question she has contemplated multiple times but cannot definitively answer.