MOSHCHUN, Ukraine (Reuters) – In a village devastated by Russia’s failed offensive in nearby Kyiv in March, Kateryna Tyshchenko lives in a cramped temporary housing container next to the ruins of her fiance’s family home that was destroyed by an artillery shell. Tyshchenko, 18, shares the container with her in-laws, fiancé and nine-year-old half-sister. Regular blackouts caused by Russian strikes on Ukraine’s vital infrastructure mean they can only sporadically heat their tiny makeshift home. Next week, nighttime temperatures are forecast to drop below freezing in the village of Moshchun, where some residents complain they have to forage for firewood in a forest containing landmines to heat their homes. Tyshchenko, who doesn’t have a wood heater, says she has no idea what’s next, but has no plans to leave her home and village this winter, even if things get much worse. “Even if we don’t have power for good, we’ll take it and survive. We just don’t want to get bombed – anything else we can take. The most important thing is that the (Russians) don’t come back. Other than that, everything is good.” , he said. With the war in its ninth month, Russia is pounding energy infrastructure with drones and missiles, leaving millions of Ukrainians without power and even access to running water in a country where winter temperatures regularly reach -15 degrees Celsius. Moscow said last month it had launched strikes against energy, military and communications infrastructure in retaliation for a “terrorist” attack on Russia’s bridge on the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea. Ukraine says the Russians are the “terrorists” and that it is waging a defensive war for its survival. Despite the hardships, many ordinary Ukrainians are enduring and adapting, and so far there is little sign that civilians are turning against their leaders or pressuring them to negotiate a quick end to the conflict. The story continues EMERGENCY PURPOSES Moshchun, which is surrounded by pine forests and had a pre-war population of 800, was never fully captured but was the site of fierce fighting before Russian troops withdrew at the end of March. About 650-700 residents still live in Moshchun, the local mayor said. Tyshchenko left Moshchun on March 4 and returned in April to find her home destroyed. Her parents are now living with friends, while she moved into a housing container set up by volunteer activists in September. Moshchun, located a few miles (km) north of the capital Kyiv, has been hit particularly hard by Russian airstrikes on nationwide infrastructure that began on October 10. Authorities say 40% of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has been severely damaged, forcing them to introduce rolling blackouts. In such cases, Tyshchenko’s household cannot use the only electric heater and cell phone signals are cut off. “I hope some volunteers will bring us a boiler with firewood before winter sets in,” said Tyshchenko, who has been unemployed since the invasion. She has put wedding plans on hold until she and her fiance get a proper house. “We had no power at all for a month and a half (when we returned to Moshchun). We lived here without crying and complaining.” A traveling dental service operating out of the back of an ambulance visited the village this week, using a generator given to them by residents to power their tools because there was no electricity. “Yesterday, my toothache got a lot worse. I was thinking about taking medicine, but I didn’t know which pills to take,” said Antonina Telychko, a 70-year-old resident who had a bad tooth removed in the ambulance. “I thought I wouldn’t last until the next day.” PUBLIC DECISION Public resilience could prove a vital factor in the war as Russia tries to break Ukraine’s morale and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy insists peace talks can only resume when Moscow gives back all the land it has seized. Anton Gushetsky, deputy director of the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, said poll data showed that 86 percent of Ukrainians still support the idea of continued resistance against Russia. The poll was conducted nearly two weeks after Russia began its attacks on infrastructure and there is no evidence, so far, of any impact on Ukraine’s determination to fight Russia, he said. “The winter months could affect the situation and maybe a little more people could support the negotiations… But we don’t (for now) see a tendency to make concessions with Russia,” he said. Tyshchenko is determined to stay put. “My soul belongs here, it’s my backyard and living here means I can work in my garden and yard,” she said. “But when you live with your friends, you can’t work in the yard because it’s not yours.” (Writing by Tom Balmforth Editing by Mike Collett-White and Gareth Jones)
