Ukraine war: ‘Living in a nightmare’ – Kyiv families without water or electricity in suffering ‘worse than WWII’
In the flicker of candlelight, a 91-year-old grandmother says she is scared as night falls, plunging her apartment block in Kyiv once more into darkness.
Anna Abrosimova fell over during a blackout this week, hurting her legs. She is too frail to move somewhere safer.
“I am living in a nightmare,” she said, standing in the hallway of her neat, tidy, first-floor flat.
Ukraine war latest: Russia ‘removing nuclear warheads from old missiles and launching them’
Russian missile strikes against Ukraine‘s power and water supplies have turned people’s homes, like hers, into a new frontline as Vladimir Putin tries to crush their will to resist.
But Anna, who lives with her adult granddaughter, said she is determined to survive.
She has stored bottles of water in her hallway and wrapped pots of soup up in blankets to keep them warm.
Power cuts have increased in frequency in recent weeks
Standing next to a wall decoration that says in English “Love – Happy – Joy”, she said: “I urgently want to live to see the victory and to see how it’s all over.
“But it is almost one year since that bandit [Putin] started a war against us. Does he have no shame?”
She said her husband of 59 years, who died more than a decade ago, was Russian.
“We [Ukraine and Russia] used to be together [in the Soviet Union]… Putin came to power and what is he doing now? He wants Ukraine. We will not allow him. If I was younger, I would go and fight.”
Ukraine by night from NASA. Pic: NASA WORLDVIEW/Reuters
‘Worse than Hitler’
Anna said the suffering unleashed by Russia’s invasion was even harsher than the horrors her country endured during the Second World War, when she was a child.
“They are worse than Hitler. Hitler – God forgive me for saying this – was a stranger but they [the Russians] are like our own people,” she said.
“In the Second World War it was hard, my father was killed, leaving just me, my younger brother and my mother. It was tough, but not as now. My nerves are shredded.”
Anna said there had been power outages at specific times in the wake of Russia’s full-scale war on 24 February but in recent weeks it has become much worse and unpredictable.
Her granddaughter works during the day. If there is no power, she is unable to return home.
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Russian forces have smashed energy and water infrastructure in waves of deliberate strikes in a tactic that seems designed to try to crush Ukraine’s will to resist as winter draws in.
“Of course I’m worried. I wish I had electricity,” Anna said. “It is hard but I don’t want to die. I wish to wait for the peace.”
Myroslava Babchenko, 32 and her children
Mother resorts to melting snow for water
In another apartment nearby, a young mother and her two children, five-year-old Viktor and two-year-old Anna, are also having to adapt to this new, harsher reality of power and water outages on top of the threat of missile strikes.
They too had no electricity or running water on Wednesday and Thursday but services returned in their block on Friday.
“When you have no electricity, you feel like you can adapt,” said Myroslava Babchenko, 32, sitting in her children’s bedroom, which doubles up as a playroom.
“But when the water disappeared and we lost all amenities, it became very uncomfortable. Also, when you have little children, you constantly want to wash their hands and be clean, it’s very hard.”
The destruction in Kyiv
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She resorted to melting some of the year’s first snow this week to create at least water that was suitable for washing.
Myroslava said she wanted to stay with her family in Kyiv but if conditions become much worse then she will move to a holiday home outside the capital that they own.
Water stored in Kyiv apartment
“My brother is on the frontline. He says we shouldn’t be sad and that we need to enjoy life, because they are there for us to be happy,” she said, watching her daughter toddle around, batting a red, heart shaped balloon.
“I don’t think of myself as a soldier but… We have a phrase in Ukraine: ‘What is your power? I’m Ukrainian…’ and I feel proud of that.”
World
European leaders to meet in Ukraine for ‘coalition of the willing’ talks – and issue call to Russia
Sir Keir Starmer will join other European leaders in Kyiv on Saturday for talks on the “coalition of the willing”.
The prime minister is attending the event alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, recently-elected German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
It will be the first time the leaders of the four countries will travel to Ukraine at the same time – on board a train to Kyiv – with their meeting hosted by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
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Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz travelling in the saloon car of a special train to Kiev. Pic: Reuters
Military officers from around 30 countries have been involved in drawing up plans for the coalition, which would provide a peacekeeping force in the event of a ceasefire being agreed between Russia and Ukraine.
Ahead of the meeting on Saturday, Sir Keir, Mr Macron, Mr Tusk and Mr Merz released a joint statement voicing support for Ukraine and calling on Russia to agree to a 30-day ceasefire.
Sir Keir and Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a meeting in March. Pic: AP
“We reiterate our backing for President Trump’s calls for a peace deal and call on Russia to stop obstructing efforts to secure an enduring peace,” they said.
“Alongside the US, we call on Russia to agree a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire to create the space for talks on a just and lasting peace.”
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Putin’s Victory Day parade explained
The leaders said they were “ready to support peace talks as soon as possible”.
But they warned that they would continue to “ratchet up pressure on Russia’s war machine” until Moscow agrees to a lasting ceasefire.
“We are clear the bloodshed must end, Russia must stop its illegal invasion, and Ukraine must be able to prosper as a safe, secure and sovereign nation within its internationally recognised borders for generations to come,” their statement added.
“We will continue to increase our support for Ukraine.”
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The European leaders are set to visit the Maidan, a central square in Ukraine’s capital where flags represent those who died in the war.
They are also expected to host a virtual meeting for other leaders in the “coalition of the willing” to update them on progress towards a peacekeeping force.
This force “would help regenerate Ukraine’s armed forces after any peace deal and strengthen confidence in any future peace”, according to Number 10.
World
Ten explosions near international airport in India-administered part of Kashmir, officials say
Ten explosions have been heard near Srinagar International Airport in India-administered parts of Kashmir, officials have told Reuters news agency.
The blasts followed blackouts caused by multiple projectiles, which were seen in the sky above the city of Jammu earlier on Friday.
Explosions were also heard in the Sikh holy city of Amritsar, in the neighbouring Punjab state, according to Reuters.
An Indian military official told the agency that “drones have been sighted” and “they are being engaged”.
It comes as tensions between India and Pakistan across the line of control around the region of Kashmir have boiled over this week, leading to fears of a wider conflict.
On Wednesday morning, India carried out missile strikes in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered parts of the disputed region.
The retaliation came weeks after 26 people, mainly Indian tourists, were shot dead by gunmen in an India-administered part of Kashmir last month.
The government in India said it hit nine “terrorist infrastructure” sites, while Pakistan said it was not involved in the April attack and the sites were not militant bases.
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Explained: India-Pakistan conflict
Around 48 people have been killed since Wednesday, according to casualty estimates on both sides – which have not been independently verified.
India also suspended its top cricket tournament, the Indian Premier League, as a result of rising tensions, while the Pakistan Super League moved the remainder of its season to the United Arab Emirates.
Meanwhile, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a conference on Friday that the US is in constant contact with both India and Pakistan.
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Conclaves are famously unpredictable affairs – and once again the election of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as the new pope caught many by surprise.
The newly elected Pope Leo XIV won the consensus of the 133 cardinal electors after only four ballots – a fast process for a diverse college of cardinals.
Though his name had circulated among some Vatican watchers, other cardinals had emerged as clear front-runners, including Pietro Parolin – the Vatican’s number two who would have been the first Italian in almost 50 years to become pontiff – or Luis Tagle, a Filipino cardinal looking to become the first Asian pope.
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What are the conclave’s secrecy measures?
Instead, it was the first North American to win the highly secretive process.
So, what went on behind the closed doors of the Sistine Chapel?
Until Thursday lunchtime, Cardinal Parolin was ahead, gathering between 45 and 55 votes, sources say.
A substantial number, but well short of the 89 votes he needed for a two-thirds majority.
At this point, Cardinal Prevost had between 34 and 44 votes.
But as the Italian struggled to grow his support during the first three rounds of voting, he stepped down from the race, endorsing Prevost instead, Sky News understands.
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An internal battle between Luis Tagle and Pablo Virgilio David – both cardinals hailing from Asia – cancelled out both of their chances.
And a contender from Africa – the most conservative sector of the church – was never likely for a conclave where the overwhelming majority of cardinals had been appointed by Francis, a progressive pontiff, sources say.
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Moment new pope emerges on balcony
An American pope has long been seen as highly improbable, given the geopolitical power of the US.
But Cardinal Prevost was able to draw from across the groups making up the electors: moderate US cardinals, South American cardinals and many European cardinals all coalesced around him.
Italian newspaper La Repubblica said Prevost “certainly attracted cross-party preferences, both ideologically and geographically”.
“In the conclave he was the least American of Americans: Born in Chicago, he lived 20 years in Peru,” the newspaper said.
It added: “As a man used to teamwork, Prevost appeared to many as the right man to make the papacy evolve into a more collegial form.”
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