Repeated air-raid alerts are shaping how some Kyiv parents balance their children’s safety against work, family ties and daily routines, according to interviews and city updates.
Kyiv’s municipal weekly summaries counted 54 alerts lasting almost 60 hours in an update published Sept. 25, then 56 alerts in an Oct. 2 update. The summaries did not specify the exact dates covered.
The Kyiv Independent reported that Anna Lodyhina and her five-year-old son moved from Kyiv to Lviv. Their apartment building had no shelter, and they often spent attack nights in the metro. Lodyhina said disrupted sleep was affecting her health and concentration.
The Kyiv Independent also reported that Anna Ablitsova, 33, and her husband began considering a move in August before taking their four-year-old son to Lutsk. The family planned to stay there for at least six months. Ablitsova said her son spent much of his kindergarten day in an underground shelter, while the parents’ work and relatives remained in Kyiv.
The Kyiv Independent reported that Nina Shkurba, 38, plans to remain in Kyiv with her nine-year-old son and 16-year-old daughter. She left Ukraine for Santander, Spain, soon after Russia’s full-scale invasion began on Feb. 24, 2022, and returned two and a half years later.
Attacks have also struck western Ukraine. Lutsk City Council said an Oct. 14 attack killed six people and injured 12; the State Emergency Service of Ukraine later reported 13 people injured, including one child, with one person in critical condition. The Lviv Regional Military Administration said a downed enemy drone fell in Malekhiv on Oct. 13, injuring three people and damaging two homes, a garage and three cars.
The Kyiv Independent reported that families interviewed feared winter attacks could disrupt Kyiv’s heating, electricity or water supplies.
