// BBC WORLD NEWS — MONDO
Ukraine's power supply close to critical as Russian strikes bring darkness and cold
Single mother Daryna Kulchytska has been trying to giver her son Kyryll (left) and daughter Olena (right) as normal a childhood as possible
Daryna Kulchytska is a mum under pressure. A single parent in a seventh floor flat in Kyiv trying to feed two lively kids and ensure they do their homework. But Daryna also faces the added strain of a deadline she can't even be certain of.
All she knows is soon the lights will go out, the sockets will lose power, the wi-fi will drop, and the taps will run dry. Tonight, the electricity has kept flowing an hour longer than advertised, but Daryna's still racing to serve dinner and finish her own work from home.
"The last few days it was only four or five hours we had power, but it's not at the same times. For two hours we have electricity, then for eight hours we don't."
This rolling schedule of planned power cuts has been in place since October, as Russia intensified attacks on Ukraine's energy grid. Ukraine has responded by striking Russian oil refineries.
Officials are concerned that life will quickly become unsustainable for millions of Ukrainians if power supplies cannot be maintained for at least four hours per day. Some privately warn that's close already, as some families are living with outages of up to 20 hours in Kyiv.
The power cuts were introduced earlier this year than last winter, and they're already lasting longer - making homes like Daryna's darker and colder. She's wrapped in layers of clothing and a heavy coat - the temperature is dropping, indoors and out.
Just before 7:30pm, there's a click and that's it - darkness until dawn.
The lift doesn't work, the water will stop flowing because electricity is needed to pump it to their flat. So the torches and LED candles come out and Daryna, her son Kyryll and daughter Olena gather for a card game of Uno before an early night.
Twelve-year-old Kyryll, speaking perfect English learned during two years living in the US, is frank about the disruption.