Ukraine: Surviving the Cold

VIDEO SCRIPT

Script: Ukraine, surviving the cold Feb,2026

Transcript 00:00 / 03:21

INTRO:

As Russia bombs Ukraine’s power plants, thousands of Ukrainians struggle to survive without heat. GNA reporter Vitaly Stebenev takes us to the warming tents and renews requests for prayers and help.

REPORT:

(VITALY STEBENEV, Kyiv, Ukraine)

This is Ukrainian tea with sugar already.

It’s very cold. Today, at night, we had

minus 22 degrees,

and the people don’t have heating,

electricity, water at these buildings.

It’s difficult to imagine how people survive

during this cold winter.

And Russia destroyed power plants in Kyiv in

other parts of Ukraine.

It’s really a surviving period.

Only in January, 2026,

more than 6,000 drones

and 160 rockets hit Ukraine,

and especially Kyiv, Sumi Chernigov, and Kharkiv.

And, in this district,

the main power plant was destroyed completely,

and it’s impossible to rebuild.

There’s a lot of ice

because pipes were broken…

(WOMAN #1). When The heating was turned on.

,The technical floor had been uninsulated

for far too long, for the third or fourth day.

Now they’ve been trying to get the heating system

operational, but unfortunately, it only functions

for a maximum of one or two hours.

Then it breaks down again.

They drain the water

and then they have to fix it all over again.

(VITALY) Tens of thousands of people

who live in these tall buildings don’t have heating,

electricity, and even water.

They come to this tents in order to have

hot water and, just warm themselves

because in apartments it’s only five, six degrees,

And people just surviving.

And I ask you, dear friends, to continue praying

and supporting Ukraine, and please stand with us.

We need to go through this very cold winter that we

didn’t have during these four years or war.

Tell me, how do families with small children survive

and elderly people who can’t move around?

Do you know any such families?.

(WOMAN #2) You know, I have a

neighbor and I often bring her little meals.

Knitted socks were sent to me from the Baltic states.

A grandmother knitted them with care and sent them,

and I took them to her just yesterday.

Oh my goodness. How incredibly happy she was.

She put those little socks right on her feet.

She was so touched, she almost started crying.

(VITALY) I send greetings

and thanks from Ukrainian Nation for all your support

that was done already for us.

But please continue to pray.

Continue to bring your support to our nation

because we do need it.

You see Ukrainian people, old people, people with kids

that don’t have electricity, don’t have heat at home.

And please join us in our efforts to bring

warm blankets, food, water, power banks,

whatever these families need in order to survive during this

very cold winter.

Thank you for standing with Ukraine.

May God bless your country, your families.

Vitaly Stebenev, from Kyiv, Ukraine.

Recording Location
Kyiv, Ukraine

Reporter/Producer for the story
Vitaly Stebenev