Ukraine is enduring a harsh winter with temperatures dipping below -15°C. Russia has targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure, cutting heating to about one million people. Kyiv, the capital, faces the brunt of these attacks. Mayor Vitaly Klitschko reported nearly 6,000 apartment blocks without heat after a strike on 24 January. This is the third such attack on Kyiv in two weeks, with previous strikes on 9 and 20 January freezing hundreds of thousands. Residents describe daily life as a guessing game of whether they will have heat, electricity, or water. Many wear several layers and hats indoors to keep warm. The problem worsens because most apartments rely on communal central heating. Huge heating plants heat water that is pumped into many homes. When these plants are bombed, entire neighborhoods lose heat. Kyivteploenergo, Kyiv’s heating monopoly, said "the absolute majority" of houses depend on its central heating system. About 75% of people in Zaporizhzhia, a frontline city, also rely on central heating. Ukraine inherited this centralized heating system from the Soviet era. Cities in the former USSR built large blocks of flats, known as "panelki" and "khrushchevki," with heating supplied by large plants called TETs, which produce both heat and electricity. Private houses with individual heating are rare in cities and mostly found in rural areas. Energy expert Yuriy Korolchuk explained that these Soviet heating plants were not made to withstand missile or drone attacks, making them vulnerable. Such focused attacks are a new tactic by Russia. Korolchuk noted these strikes increase pressure amid ongoing peace talks. The Ukrainian government plans to reduce this risk by requiring individual heating units for apartment blocks, but changing decades-old Soviet urban planning will take time.