Kyiv is effectively entering a state of hibernation. This week, Mayor Vitali Klitschko made the call to shut down the capital’s schools until February, a move that highlights just how close the city’s energy grid is to a total collapse. It’s not just about the lights going out; it is about a systematic Russian campaign to use the sub-zero Ukrainian winter as a tactical tool. With temperatures hitting -15°C, the city is no longer just fighting a war on the front lines, it’s fighting a war against the thermometer.
The schools called for shut-down
The call to shut down schools wasn’t a snap decision. For weeks now, parents have been dressing their kids in layers of thermals and heavy wool sweaters just to sit through lessons in rooms that feel like walk-in freezers. When temperatures inside a classroom stay stuck at 12°C, learning stops being the priority, survival does. With the power cutting out constantly, school kitchens can’t even serve a hot meal, leaving students to get by on cold sandwiches and juice. Local officials eventually had to face the facts, these icebox schools just aren’t safe for kids anymore.
Ukraine’s new energy minister, Denys Shmyhal, recently dropped a bombshell: there isn’t a single power plant in the country that hasn’t been hit. In Kyiv, what used to be a few hours of rolling blackouts has spiraled into outages that last a full 24 hours. The diesel generators that people relied on last year are starting to fail under the constant load. To keep the city from freezing solid, officials are now setting up “Invincibility Tents” where thousands gather just to charge a phone or drink something hot. They are also enforcing aggressive lighting bans, turning off everything from architectural displays to neon advertising signs.
The political calculation behind
There is a brutal logic behind these strikes. Moscow is betting that if they make daily life in Kyiv miserable enough, civilian morale will eventually snap. With the Trump administration now floating the idea of peace talks, the Kremlin is trying to use the winter freeze as leverage. By turning the capital into a place where you can’t even keep your home warm, they are essentially trying to turn the thermostat into a high-stakes bargaining chip at the negotiating table.