Freezing on the front line: The Ukrainians struggling to survive in -26C cold with scarce food and no power

As three-way peace talks between Ukraine, Russia and the US stall, freezing Ukrainians say they are struggling to feed their families while Putin’s relentless assault continues.

Russian forces began the year by ramping up their strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, plunging large swathes of the country into darkness.

Ukraine is suffering its coldest winter in more than a decade, and without power, many of its people have been unable to cook meals while temperatures plummet as low as -26C.

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The latest round of talks did little to boost the optimism of Ukrainians now facing a fresh crisis in aid-starved frontline regions, with declining volunteer numbers and food supplies proving scarce.

“I feel despair,” says Tetiana Usachova, 36, a mother of two small children with retired parents who were internally displaced from the Donetsk region.

“I want to give the best to my children. But prices have risen sharply, and social benefits from the state are meager. My children need vegetables, meat, fish, fruits, and cheese. But there is not enough money.”

Families in the so-called “red zones” have been forced to make a single week’s worth of flour and basic medicine last for 90 days, while living under constant Russian bombardment, according to Ukrainian charity Hope for Ukraine.

Deliveries that used to be made weekly are now only taking place only once every three months.

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Where urgent requests from civilians in frontline regions once focused on medical supplies, increasingly desperate pleas are being made for some of the most simple kitchen staples: bread, rice and flour.

The energy and food crises in Ukraine are closely intertwined. During the blackouts, an economy already on the brink is forced into further shutdown.

Food is already scarce, but increasingly so is the money with which to buy it, with household income strained for most and almost non-existent for others.

Grocery prices have been rising again, a result of a winter that has left hundreds of thousands of families without light or heating.

Reprieve from the freezing weather appears distant, as temperatures once again plummeted across the war-ravaged country this week; in the frontline region of Kharkiv, temperatures dropped to -26C overnight into earlier this month.

The World Central Kitchen has expanded its emergency meals response, having already served 130,000 hot meals to people affected by the ongoing power outages.

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“Believe me, you haven’t felt cold like the winter in Ukraine. So you haven’t felt the warmth of a spoonful of bohrach stew,” WCK founder chef José Andrés says.

For Tetiana, only a comprehensive end to the war will allow her to provide regular warm meals to her two small children. She is grateful to the aid workers, including Ukrainian NGO Rozvitok Mista, but adds: “Unfortunately, this is not enough for a normal life and nutrition.”

The Kremlin said it expects a third round of trilateral peace talks to take place “soon”, although no date has been set. Territory continues to be the main stumbling block, despite insistence from all sides that the meetings were constructive.

Tetiana is one of many Ukrainians who have spent their remaining savings to flee frontline areas. This leaves them relying heavily on humanitarian aid for food.

“The assistance is often not enough,” says Solomia Petrenko of Ukrainian NGO Hope for Ukraine. “The enemy deliberately targets logistics and infrastructure, making aid delivery extremely difficult, especially in frontline and near-frontline areas.

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“In many cases, logistics collapse before active fighting reaches an area, forcing people to flee urgently because access to food and essential supplies disappears first.”

Valia Zontova, who has been displaced twice in Ukraine, now resides with her family in the city of Kryvyi Rih. It includes two young children, one of whom is one year and 10 months old.

“We do not buy anything unnecessary,” she says, discussing the difficulty in producing a balanced diet for her young children. “We feel fear, disappointment. We want a better childhood for our children, but we are afraid for them. These are difficult times.”

A similar story can be told for countless families living under heavy shelling. Last week saw the heaviest attack of the year so far, when Russia launched 450 drones and 71 missiles at targets across Ukraine overnight into Tuesday.

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack involved the largest number of ballistic missiles Russia had seen since the war began.

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“We are already depressed after being forced to move from our home, due to constant shelling and the threat to our lives,” says Shram Alla, 38. His family, he adds, does not have enough money to cover its nutritional needs.

“Almost all the money goes to paying for rent and utilities. We often have problems with meat and dairy products, oil, fruits and sweets for children. It’s seriously affecting our emotional state.”

As the country’s future remains uncertain ahead of the fourth anniversary of Putin’s invasion, Vladimir Sidorishin, 62, says he would simply like to “grow old peacefully”.

“We have to save on food, since most of the money goes to paying for an apartment and medicine,” he said. “We buy meat once a week, we wear the clothes we had before the war. We buy only when necessary.”