«But Kharkiv lives On». What daily life Is like in a city under constant bombardment

The distance from the center of Kharkiv to the Russian border is just over 30 kilometers. For four years now, not a single day has passed in the Kharkiv region without news of Russian attacks. Rockets and drones strike residential buildings, city infrastructure, markets, schools, and hospitals. One district of the city, Northern Saltivka, is compared to Pripyat in the exclusion zone. Not a single intact building remains there. Vladimir Lyapin, a retired volunteer, lives in Kharkiv. After the start of the full-scale war, he spent more than three years in the relatively calm city of Kovel, but in the autumn of 2025, he and his wife decided to return to Kharkiv. Home, where even the walls help. Here is what Vladimir says about life in Kharkiv in the fifth year of the war.

Daily strikes and heating outages

Vladimir speaks with us having just returned from a hospital running on generators — due to recent shelling. His building has had no electricity since 11 in the morning and most likely won't until late evening. This too is a consequence of Russian attacks on the region's energy infrastructure. Yesterday, guided aerial bombs and 142 drones of various types flew toward Kharkiv and the region. The day before, and several weeks ago, the situation was the same. People live under constant bombardment and grow accustomed to its consequences.

"But Kharkiv lives on regardless. Kharkiv has given the finger to these bastards — that's not great, but we don't even pay attention to the air raid alerts anymore. It's part of our life now. Banks, cafes, and businesses are open. People live by the principle of 'whatever happens, happens.' Nobody runs to a shelter, nobody hides in the metro. Everyone lives a normal life, just cursing and damning these neighbors of ours. We now have major interruptions in power and heating. But never mind — Kharkiv won't be surrendered, and when the time comes, we old men will go too. The people of Kharkiv love their city, value it, and protect it."
Lyapin describes the daily routine of Kharkiv residents in 2026: you need to carry a charged power bank — better yet, two. As soon as the electricity comes on, you need to quickly take care of household tasks that require power. For example, run the washing machine and so on. Because nobody knows how long the lights will stay on.

There is another less obvious consequence of the attacks: people almost never use elevators. Across from Vladimir's building there is a 12-story apartment block, and even residents of the top floors walk up the stairs. Nobody wants to get stuck in an elevator for several hours.
The elderly suffer from this most of all. Climbing the stairs is hard, and many simply end up not leaving home.

Electricity for buildings left without heating

Vladimir says that none of the Kharkiv residents complain about the decisions of the authorities or the actions of the energy workers. The thing is, there are districts in the city that have been left without heating. In some buildings, the water has already been drained from the heating systems — repairs are expected to take a long time. That is why power is restored first to those areas, so that people can at least warm themselves with electrical appliances.
In districts without heating, the authorities set up special warming stations — "Points of Resilience" (Punkty Nezlamnosti).

"These are tents where you can warm up, charge any devices, get food, and you can even spend the night there — there are sleeping spots. Of course, you won't sleep there in your pajamas, but it's still warmer than being at home in winter without heating. We have several services that provide all of this — 'Zelenstroy,' 'Poryatunok' (rescue services / emergency response — ed.). All of Kharkiv is very grateful to them. Sometimes they work even under fire. They arrive to deal with the aftermath of one attack, and they get shelled again."

The rest of Kharkiv runs on generators — cafes, shops, banks. Vladimir describes it: this creates a constant background noise that might surprise someone who isn't used to it. But Ukrainians are no longer surprised by any of this.

Schools, children, displaced people

Vladimir Lyapin says that Kharkiv is still crowded. Yes, some people have left the city for safety reasons. But many internally displaced people have arrived from border areas — Kupiansk, Dvorichna, and other settlements. The situation there is dire.
"Kupiansk, a beautiful city, is now being leveled to the ground, like Bakhmut," says Vladimir.
According to Vladimir, the people of Kharkiv support the displaced.
"Not far from us there is a dormitory where displaced people live. We help them however we can. Kharkiv is now living as one big, close-knit family. Yes, disagreements happen, but we try to stick together."
The constant shelling has also affected education. Several underground schools have been set up in Kharkiv; there were periods when classes were held in the metro, and now children mostly study online.
"Of course, the level of education has dropped significantly because of this. Even the most diligent student will get distracted in such conditions, because it's not a real classroom lesson. Especially against the backdrop of constant shelling and air raid alerts."

How Europe can help

Vladimir notes that even setting aside weapons supplies, Ukraine needs humanitarian assistance from European organizations — first and foremost, humanitarian aid.
"Say a rocket hits someone's home. They survived, managed to run out in whatever they were wearing. Sometimes people don't even have time to grab their documents and everything burns. In such cases, people need clothing, bed linen, some food. Because they are left with absolutely nothing."