By Alice Greider, Senior Older People Programmes Officer, and Liubov Rainchuk, Programme and MEL Manager
New Year is a big deal in Ukraine. Normally, some of the light displays would rival those on Bond Street or New York’s 5th Avenue. And you can tell the country is doing its best to maintain as much of that normality as possible – winter lights are set up and people are trying to keep the festive spirits as high as possible. In the centre of busy Kyiv, you could pretend it’s all fine.
But this well-intended façade hides the reality – relentless Russian attacks target Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in an effort to make life so miserable for people that they simply don’t want to go on.
Although Ukraine has withstood two previous winters of energy attacks, the beleaguered energy system is at breaking point. With reserves at an all-time low this winter, there are daily rolling blackouts to try and conserve power. These planned blackouts, alongside the erratic ones caused by missile strikes, paint a dark and gloomy picture. Paradoxically, this makes the festive lights all the more needed.

We visited in early December to meet with a handful of our local partners who we are working alongside to meet the vast and varied needs of older people – from within and beyond the Jewish community. Coming from the UK, it’s always a shock arriving in Ukraine. Each day is punctuated by air raids and blackouts. But for Ukrainians, this has become an all too familiar metronome dictating their daily life; “the symphony of our new normal”, as one friend described it.
For those who can afford it, an escape to a café allows a chance at a normal evening. Most businesses in the hospitality sector have a generator by now, so the most notable impact is a few moments of dark and then an aggressive humming as the generator kicks in. A pair sat at the table next to us at dinner one night epitomised this escapism; a young girl diligently doing her homework whilst her father sipped tea and nibbled honey cake for hours.
But for those who cannot pay to exist in the light, the disruption is monumental.
Mobile phone signal, Wi-Fi and even traffic lights are all unstable and make it difficult to continue working or travelling around. For those in their homes, trying to plan anything is almost impossible: when to cook food, use the phone to call friends and family, charge your devices… you must be constantly prepared for any eventuality.


Even during our short visit to Ukraine, our heads were filled with relentless anxious questions. When will there be power? When might there be another attack? Am I prepared? Do I have enough battery charge in my devices? Am I wearing enough warm clothes if I have to wait in a basement shelter? Do I have food with me?
Ukrainian colleagues tell us that long periods of calm feel unsettling; experience tells them it’s likely the calm before the storm. There is no let up, and this state of perpetual anxiety and uncertainty makes it hard to stay resilient – let alone positive. We see this fatigue and burnout in our partner staff, who admit to numbly watching aerial drones fly across the sky from the kitchen window, or ignoring all alerts apart from ballistic missiles.
In Poltava – a quieter region in central Ukraine – a spell of “British weather” turned the unlit streets even foggier and darker. A city which would usually be lit up with holiday decorations, was instead murky and deserted. People hurried, heads down, through the cold to their destination instead of strolling through the park at night to admire the lights and sip some mulled wine. Where Christmas and New Year celebrations once filled the streets, now stand rows of flags — each one representing the life of a local soldier lost in the war. Instead of festive decorations, only reminders of the price of freedom remain.

Unfortunately, this isn’t anything new. This will be the third winter of war for Ukraine, and the third year of major power cuts and blackouts. All the while, we’ve been helping our partners prepare: purchasing generators and fuel for warm hubs and offices, firewood, head torches, power banks, and thermoses to keep food and drink warm. We continue to provide home repairs to dilapidated and bomb-damaged homes, ensuring people have at least one warm room to survive the winter. This is the new normal, and alongside our partners we are responding, but that doesn’t make the winter any less dark, cold and dangerous. To help meet vast needs, we’ve launched an urgent appeal for winter support, which you can find and donate to here.
Amid the grimness, we met a remarkably positive woman in Poltava whom we have supported with home repairs. Despite the challenges, she has remained active, dedicating herself to volunteering — helping displaced people and supporting Ukraine’s armed forces. Her determination stood in stark contrast to others who felt abandoned and drained. Moments like these remind us why our work matters.

When you see what it means to the vulnerable people receiving help, you realise that even the smallest efforts are not in vain. Participants we meet ask us over and over again to thank our sponsors for their support, no matter how small. From them, through us, to you, their gratitude is overwhelming.
Right now, assistance is not just about humanitarian aid. It’s about helping people feel seen, restoring hope, and enabling them to carry on despite the uncertainty, fear, and darkness.