“I didn’t leave my apartment all winter,” recalls Hanna, 97, who is confined to her apartment on the 11th floor of a residential building in Kyiv, Ukraine. “It was very cold at home and I was constantly shaking. I really want to stay sane after all this.”
In February 2026, after repeated shelling of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure by Russian forces, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) launched a project in Kyiv to support those most affected.
MSF outreach teams are conducting door-to-door visits together with Kyiv’s state social services and local volunteers in order to meet with vulnerable residents, assess their needs, and provide basic kits designed to help them manage daily life during outages.
Outreach visits to help keep warm
Prolonged power outages, combined with harsh winter temperatures dropping to as low as –4° F at night, have left many residents struggling to cope with the cold and darkness.
The situation has been particularly difficult for elderly people, families caring for people with disabilities, children, and people living alone. In many high-rise buildings across Kyiv, elevators frequently stop working during blackouts or due to the unstable electricity supply. For people with limited mobility, descending several floors without an elevator is often impossible, leaving many trapped in cold apartments without reliable heating or electricity.
“The temperature in my apartment was 40°F throughout January and February,” says Inna Litvinova, 80, who currently lives alone in her apartment in Kyiv. “I slept in a winter jacket and a hood, under an old down blanket that I wrapped around myself like a sleeping bag.”
During MSF outreach visits, teams distribute basic kits and work to better understand people’s needs. “The kit includes a warm blanket, reusable thermal heating pads (which can be kept in pockets), a power bank, a thermos, a large flashlight, as well as tea, instant soup, and biscuits,” explains Olha Osmukha, MSF project medical referent in Kyiv. “We also call this package a ‘warmth kit.’”
“A headlamp is my salvation, because the apartment is always dark,” explains Litvinova. “I had fallen several times before, and it’s very dangerous. Now I put the lamp on my forehead, my hands are free and there is light around me. In the morning I use the thermos to make hot tea or herbs, then a power bank, later a flashlight, and toward the evening I rely on heating pads and a warm blanket.”
Bringing care to people who can’t leave home
During outreach visits, MSF teams also carry out basic health checks as many of the people visited live with multiple chronic conditions such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, arthritis, Parkinson’s disease, or the aftermath of stroke. Nurses measure blood pressure, body temperature, oxygen saturation, and blood glucose levels.
“I have a severe form of psoriasis, and I can barely see out of one eye,” shares Litvinova. “Of course, when you are under constant stress, chronic illnesses become worse. And how can you not be nervous? A missile struck the neighboring entrance of my building. There were cracks in the ceiling and walls of my apartment, and the balcony windows are still covered with plastic film. That morning I woke up and my entire apartment was covered in glass. But I keep going. We have to live.”
Although spring has arrived and temperatures are gradually rising, many residents in Kyiv continue to face unstable electricity supply and hours-long power cuts each day. MSF teams continue to visit vulnerable residents to help them cope with the ongoing impact of the war.
