In brief: Kyiv authorities said heating has started for 45 percent of residential houses since Monday, with full supplies expected by Nov. 12. The updates coincide with a major power and water outage on Thursday, just a day after they were restored and two days after a major Russian attack, casting doubt on how long the supplies will last as Russia reportedly aims to cut off 90 percent of Ukrainian utility services.
Kyiv authorities said heating supplies have started partially in Kyiv since Monday, Nov. 2, with full supplies expected by Nov. 12.
The update came amid an uncertain winter forecast for Ukraine, as Kyiv claimed to have obtained Russian war plans to disrupt 90 percent of Ukraine’s utilities this winter.
JOIN US ON TELEGRAM
Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Thursday that heating is connected for “almost 45%” of residential houses in the capital, after earlier decisions to start heating supplies for hospitals and schools on Oct. 16.
“It takes a little more than a week to launch Kyiv’s centralized heating system – one of the largest in Europe (the length of heating networks is about 3,000 km),” Klitschko wrote on Telegram.
“Therefore, the capital made the decision to start the heating season in the residential sector a few days before the sharp drop in temperature.”
Petro Panteleyev, the acting first deputy head of the Kyiv City State Administration, said full supply is expected 10 days after supply began.
“The estimated time for deploying the system and supplying heat is 10 days. Currently, there is no differentiation between districts, that is, heat is being launched in all districts,” Panteleyev said, as reported by state media Ukrinform.
The updates coincided with widespread power and water outages on Thursday, after Russia launched what Kyiv’s energy operator called one of the largest attacks on the energy grid two days prior.
Kyiv Faces New Water Cuts a Day After Full Restoration
Authorities said the supply disruptions, restored just a day prior, were caused by voltage fluctuations in the energy grid, which also temporarily affected metro operations.
The outages have cast doubt on how long the heating will last, as the city risks buckling under Russian attacks and a similar heating crisis seen in the winter of 2025-26.
In January 2026, Kyiv authorities reported no heating in over 1,670 buildings after a major Russian attack, with thermal plants among those targeted throughout the winter as temperatures plummeted to -30°C (-22°F) at times.
At the time, Kyiv Post correspondents reported indoor temperatures as low as 6.9°C (44.4°F) in apartments enduring more than 24 hours of extensive power cuts, as authorities were also forced to drain water from heating pipes for fear they would burst from ice.
A Kyiv Post correspondent also documented a bottle of olive oil freezing inside the apartment at around 6°C (42.8°F) during the cold spell on Feb. 1.
Kyiv Post is Ukraine’s first and oldest English news organization, reporting since 1995. Its international reach – 90% of readers are outside of Ukraine – make it truly Ukraine’s global voice.