Ukraine and neighboring countries swept by extreme cold, which weather forecasters expect to break by the weekend
Many Ukrainians are struggling to adapt to the chilling cold weather that hit the region two weeks ago; some are even struggling to survive.
Ukraine and neighboring countries were swept by deep freeze conditions last week, which weather forecasters expect to break by the weekend.
Temperatures dipped to below -25 degrees Celsius in some parts of the country during the cold spell, and the eastern city of Lugansk saw temperatures fall to -40 on the evening of Jan. 23. In Crimea, the port of Sevastopol partly iced over for the first time in 60 years.
Ukraine’s Emergency Ministry announced earlier this week that more than 50 people had died from the freezing cold temperatures, adding that hundreds had been hospitalized with frostbite and illnesses related to the cold weather. Homeless people accounted for the majority of the victims, officials said.
As room temperatures in some local apartments fell, citizens of Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities rushed to home appliance and electronics retail stores in search of electronic heaters to supplement centrally-controlled and poorly operating heating systems installed during the Soviet era.
Heaters at local stores sold out quickly while new shipments disappeared within hours of arrival.
Employees at the home appliance and electronics retail store Eldorado on Chervonoarmiyska Street in Kyiv said they sold out of more than 100 heaters last Friday, hours after the new shipments arrived. Store officials said heaters were sold out across Ukraine and in Moscow, adding that they have no idea where or when new heaters would arrive.
Employees at Mega-Max on Gorky Street said all heaters – including expensive models – were sold days ago.
Taxi drivers have profited from the situation, raising minimal fares from 15 hryvnyas to 20 hryvnyas. Meanwhile, many street-side retailers have closed shop to avoid the bitter cold chill.
Weather forecasters predicted more severe frost for the weekend.
Volia Cable, a cable operator that services nearly 500,000 subscribers in Kyiv, warned clients Jan. 24 that the frost could interfere with transmission along their digital cable and Internet network, adding that the technical difficulties have quadrupled since the beginning of the frost.Meanwhile, Prime-Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov told journalists Jan. 24 that the country had consumed a record amount of natural gas in recent days to keep households warm during the subzero temperatures. Yekhanurov appealed to the nation’s industry, which account for a large share of gas consumed, to temporarily halt production in order to ensure household heating stations receive enough fuel in coming days.
