Kyiv residents consider leaving as attacks deepen worries before winter

Some Kyiv residents are leaving or considering leaving Ukraine’s capital before winter as Russian attacks add to fears about safety and essential services, the BBC reported from the city on 9 October. Its interviews describe individual decisions, while a September survey shows how many urban Ukrainians would consider moving if living conditions deteriorate; neither establishes a mass departure from Kyiv.

Why some Kyiv families are making plans to leave

Mariia Shostak, a mother of two, told the BBC she was packing to take her children to Hurghada, Egypt, for the winter. She said a difficult previous winter, with prolonged cold and power cuts, had already made her reluctant to stay. Attacks in late August and early September changed her timetable: she described drones and missiles reaching central Kyiv and said she no longer felt safe in Ukraine.

Another resident, identified by the BBC only as Iryna at her request, said her family was considering leaving after two nearby missile attacks damaged their home. She said her young daughter had developed severe anxiety symptoms following the attacks. Iryna had not decided where to go; her husband is in the army, and she said her work might allow her to work remotely from Poland.

Olena Konoplia chose a different route. The BBC reported that she had moved to a cottage in a rural community about two hours from Kyiv, selecting a place she considered less likely to be targeted. She said she was already sleeping better there. These accounts show different responses to the same pressure, from a planned winter abroad to a move within Ukraine or a decision still being weighed.

What the Gradus survey says about relocation plans

Gradus says it surveyed 1,000 people aged 18 to 60 from 4 to 7 September through a mobile app questionnaire. Its sample covered Ukrainian cities with more than 50,000 residents, excluding occupied territories and areas of active hostilities. The findings therefore describe that surveyed urban population; they do not give a count of Kyiv residents who have left or a forecast of how many will leave.

The survey also recorded concerns about basic services. Prolonged power cuts were cited by 69% of respondents, lack of water by 58%, and heating disruption by 48%. Gradus said 42% lived in homes connected to municipal utility networks without enough equipment or water reserves for independent supply. About one-third had some equipment but still depended on municipal infrastructure, while one in ten described their household as fully autonomous.

How recent attacks have affected the capital

The concerns come amid disruptions that residents have already experienced. The Associated Press reported that Russian aerial attacks on 2 October forced full or partial closures of three of Kyiv’s six road bridges over the Dnipro River, citing Mayor Vitalii Klitschko. AP quoted resident Oleksandr Pihalo saying a four-kilometre trip took him 45 minutes in the resulting traffic. The bridge closures illustrate disruption to daily travel; they do not establish what conditions will be like throughout winter.

The BBC reported that attacks in recent weeks had also hit petrol stations and power plants. It attributed to Klitschko a description of the city’s situation as ‘very dramatic’ and his statement that attacks were ‘tearing Kyiv apart.’ Gradus founder and chief executive Evgeniya Blyznyuk told the BBC that residents were thinking about several pressures together, including blackouts, strikes on logistics centres and possible effects on food supplies.

What Kyiv is doing to prepare

Kyiv authorities are offering some vulnerable residents, including older people and women with young children, places in converted sanatoriums and rehabilitation centres on the city’s outskirts, according to the BBC. The broadcaster also reported that about 15 small power plants had been built around Kyiv over the preceding 18 months. Housed in fortified bunkers, each was described as capable of supplying electricity and heat to several hundred high-rise apartment blocks.

Those preparations do not settle individual decisions about staying. Blyznyuk told the BBC she did not expect a mass exodus: many people were reluctant to risk their jobs or take children out of school, and might wait to see whether conditions worsened. For now, the evidence shows families making or considering different plans and a survey measuring conditional intentions. The number who will ultimately move, and the severity of winter outages, remain unknown.