Generators, kerosene, sleeping bags: how Ukrainians are ready to survive the winter

Realizing that she blurted out too much, Vereshchuk embarked on “patriotic reasoning.” Say, she is not against the “big spring resettlement” in the Kharkiv region, Kherson region and other “liberated territories”, which should be quickly re-mastered and ennobled. However, now, in the interests of Ukraine, it is still safer for its citizens to “sit out” until May away from their native places. The winter is expected to be extremely difficult, Ukrainian power grids may not be able to withstand the loads due to missile attacks. Simply put, the fewer citizens in the country, the higher its chances of “getting out”. The people sensed in the words of the associate of President Vladimir Zelensky also a hint of new attacks on civilian infrastructure. Even those who only yesterday swore to stay at home in any “military alignments” reached out abroad. The MK correspondent tried to collect brief plans of those fellow countrymen who nevertheless found a reserve of vitality in themselves and are not “diving” into the current wave of forced emigration.

“I spent the first 6 years of my life on a farm where there was no electricity,” Tatyana Pechonchik, head of a large Ukrainian human rights organization, admitted on a popular social network. – Food was cooked in the oven, water was taken from the well, heated with a rough stove (a common model of the Ukrainian stove – author), and I did my homework by the light of a kerosene lamp. It was a special kind of survival… and a special kind of bullying. After all, the farm was 500 meters from the village and some 20 km from the Rivne nuclear power plant. But the then Soviet officials did not consider it necessary to put up a couple of poles and stretch the wires so that there was light in the house of my grandmother, a widow whose husband was shell-shocked and died shortly after the war … That farm stands to this day. Already with energy supply and with the new authorities. I think there is no panic and despair among its inhabitants. Like other Ukrainians. Even after the targeted destruction of the energy infrastructure, my compatriots are morally ready to spend the winter without light and heat.”

Kyivans and residents of the cities of the capital region, according to my observations, the prospect of entering the winter with an unbalanced housing heating system and without the usual stable supply of electricity for some reason does not frighten. Most likely, they hope for a personal gasoline electric generator – a thing that is certainly useful in the household, which saved more than one Crimean family from everyday hardships during the period of complete disconnection of the peninsula’s energy system from the Ukrainian power grids.

In the mid-90s, very few wealthy Ukrainians could afford to buy a Japanese electric generator (and others were not imported to our region). And the generators were bought by those Ukrainians who had a stable income in Russia. One Ukrainian hryvnia in the glorious times I mentioned was equal to one German mark and 1.76 US dollars.

Today, the same hryvnia has thoroughly sank and corresponds to 0.027 US dollars. The “Chinese comrades” help out: they learned how to make an economy version of gasoline generators for only 12,060 hryvnias (20,312 Russian rubles). Those who are richer can buy a German generator for 24,900 hryvnias (41,938 rubles) or a portable power plant from Holland for 24,777 hryvnias (41,731 rubles). Any of these products is three or more times more powerful than the power that an ordinary Ukrainian power plant provides to ordinary private consumers.

Based on all the same wealthy citizens of Ukraine, Vinnitsa is about to launch the production of balcony solar power plants, each with a capacity of 1.1 kW / h. The manufacturers claim that this is quite enough for the stable operation of a gas boiler, refrigerator, lighting in several rooms and charging gadgets. Solar panels are installed either behind a balcony window, or on a wall, or on the roof of a high-rise building. The manufacturer guarantees from 7 to 10 thousand charge-discharge cycles. That is, the base station is able to work with daily use for 20-25 years. The cost of the station, together with solar modules, is about $4,000.

Well, how do you order an ordinary Ukrainian citizen who does not have an impressive account to spend the winter? The author of these lines was not too lazy to write extracts from the numerous recommendations that are now filled with the Ukrainian-language segment of social networks. Here’s what some of them look like:

“Firewood, a tourist stove with a bunch of cylinders. I made a supply of food and spins for several years, flashlights, batteries and a hundred other little things.

“Oil electric heater, gas cylinder, infrared gas burner, tabletop gas stove, tabletop electric stove, 4 packs of dry fuel, inverter generator plus tourist gas burner on bottles, tape for windows.”

“Food supply: cereals, flour, canned food, freezing, jam, water. We bought something, and the rest I sew from warm clothes myself. Warm footwear for the house. Candles, flashlights, power banks, tourist gas stoves and cylinders. There are warm blankets, blankets, two electric heaters. We also ordered a solar powered flashlight.

“Nothing. I bought firewood, I will warm myself by the fireplace. And still it will be necessary to buy more vodka and cognac. The last – in order to writhe near the fireplace of the lord.

“We planted a lot of vegetables and brought in all kinds of living creatures (both of which were almost never done in recent years). They screwed up spins, probably for 3 years in advance. Flour, sunflower oil, firewood, gasoline. I installed a double-circuit solid fuel boiler, the old wood-burning boiler has probably not been used for ten years. Our hut is tiny, so we don’t need a lot of firewood. While we manage the resources of the garden. Of course, solar panels and wall insulation would not hurt, but there is no money for this … “.

“We bought sleeping bags, we are gradually stocking up on grubs.”

“Generator, firewood, a solid fuel boiler built into the fuel system to the gas one in addition.”

“My grandmother knitted herself four new pairs of thick socks and made peace with her cat so that they could live together and keep each other warm.”

“I came to my parents in a private house, equipped with everything for a cold winter.”

“A 3-kilowatt gasoline generator, firewood for a solid fuel boiler and a fireplace, a tank for storing water, kerosene for a kerosene lamp, and storage lamps.”

“An electric generator, a supply of firewood, food, canned food, flour, sugar, yeast, LED light bulbs, an ax, a hammer, nails. Primus gas with five gas cylinders with a capacity of 30 liters each – that’s enough!

“We prepared firewood, products that do not require heat treatment; By the way, the presence of at least one thermos already helps to reduce the consumption of electricity. Power banks, water supply. We made external insulation of the house.

“I bought a potbelly stove, firewood, a 2 kW generator, 50 liters of gasoline for it. Now I am repairing an old Russian stove with a bench and a wood-burning stove, which I was going to break.”

“I changed the roof on the house, installed a boiler room with a solid fuel boiler, stocked up on firewood, drilled a well, bought a generator and a barrel of gasoline. She filled the pantry with groceries. Equipped a basement for living. I almost died while they were doing all this! ..».

Everything in the village is ready for Armageddon!

“I found myself a woman with an estate in the village. There she has an oven (and more than one), a well, a cellar with food, all kinds of animals suitable for consumption, a bathhouse and all sorts of household items.

“Cleaned out the garage and cellar from trash. Prepared conservation. But I didn’t buy a charging station, it’s very expensive.”

“I bought a cast Christmas tree, I still need to take care of the lanterns. I’ll put it on the balcony so that people’s hearts become warmer.”