Kharkiv locals warm up in tents outside as their homes are left without heating after Russian attacks on energy infrastructure (Photos)

UKRAINE, KHARKIV, Feb. 4 — On Feb. 3, special tents are being set up in Kharkiv to serve as heating points where locals can get hot drinks and food, charge their gadgets, and more, said Ihor Terekhov, the city’s mayor, during the national telethon.

Gwara Media visited one such heating point to see how it is helping locals.

A special tent which serve as heating point after Russian attack on Kharkiv on Feb. 3 / Photo: Gwara Media, Liubov Yemets

On Feb. 3, Russian forces conducted a mass attack on Kharkiv energy infrastructure, leaving over 105,000 customers without heating. Local officials declared a state of emergency in the city.

There are 778 resilience centers (“Points of invincibility” in translation from Ukrainian) operating around the clock in the region, including 101 in Kharkiv, where locals can stay overnight, charge their gadgets, and seek medical assistance, said the governor, Oleh Syniehubov, during a meeting with journalists.

In addition, local services have prepared 354 heating points. 

“33 mobile heating points have already been set up. We are installing them in residential areas so that people can quickly get there and receive all the necessary services,” said Syniehubov.

Workers at the heating points prepare hot drinks for people in Kharkiv after Russian attack on Feb. 3 / Photo: Gwara Media, Liubov Yemets

“This is one of the heating points installed in Kharkiv. The Red Cross provided generators for this,” said Kostiantyn Bashkirov, the head of the Kharkiv Regional Organization of the Red Cross Society of Ukraine.

Bashkirov said that such heating points can serve about 100 people per day.

A woman inside a tent that serves as a heating point after Russian attack on Kharkiv on Feb. 3 / Photo: Gwara Media, Liubov Yemets

Workers at the heating points prepare hot drinks for people in Kharkiv after Russian attack on Feb. 3 / Photo: Gwara Media, Liubov Yemets

Representatives from the city authorities, the Department of Emergency Situations, and Red Cross crews are on duty at the location. 

“If a person comes here, for example, with frostbite, or someone feels ill at home. Dizziness, other conditions can be diagnosed with great certainty. We will assist if it is a heart attack, epilepsy, or diabetes,” said Bashkirov

Red Cross workers on duty at a heating point which operates in Kharkiv after Russian attack on city on Feb. 3 / Photo: Gwara Media, Liubov Yemets

“We set up this particular heating point recently, but people are already starting to come,” noted Bashkirov.

He also said that these locations have a children’s area, which was created in partnership with UNICEF, so that people can bring their kids if necessary.

A special tent which serve as heating point after Russian attack on Kharkiv on Feb. 3 / Photo: Gwara Media, Liubov Yemets

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