Kyiv Streets After Dark as Russian Strikes Cause Nationwide Blackouts—In Photos

Russia’s strikes on Ukraine’s energy system ramped up sharply starting in October 2025. To keep the grid functioning, Ukraine introduced consumption limits and rolling blackout schedules across multiple regions. And as the blackout sets in, neighborhoods that once looked familiar begin to take on a different appearance and sound.

Light bends differently around corners as cars approach, their headlights briefly illuminating streets normally lit by shop windows or streetlights. A passerby’s flashlight casts a narrow beam, briefly washing over a building façade in a way we are not accustomed to. The low hum of generators fills the air.

The Russian attacks ahead of winter made the outages a cold, grim normality. Small businesses are forced to pay for expensive gas-powered generators just to keep their shop windows lit or their kitchens running.

Despite the heavy impact, people continue their late afternoons and evenings, only now equipped with power banks and often illuminated by candlelight—adapting, adjusting, refusing to pause their routines.

On a normal day, Kyiv’s left bank is bright and active. Residential buildings glow with lit windows, shops on the ground floors are open and busy, and streetlights keep the roads visible. Underground corridors see steady foot traffic, and cars and pedestrians move safely along well-lit streets. The area feels alive and fully functional, nothing like the darkness and quiet during blackouts.

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