Since October 2022, Russia has been carrying out massive missile strikes on civilian infrastructure in order to force a humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. Temporary breaks in the electricity supply have become an everyday reality. Yet, a lengthy blackout poses a threat to the lives of millions of people and needs to be counteracted at all costs. Ukrainians continue to adapt to these difficult circumstances.

“When will the next power outage be and for how long will it last? This is something you never know. But this thought accompanies you especially when you are taking a lift to the 13th floor of the building.” Nadiya returned to Kyiv in October. Before, just like almost eight million Ukrainians, she found refuge abroad – in Poland and the United Kingdom. However, for her Ukraine is home and it is here that she sees her future. Even despite the fact that since October 2022 Russia has systematically been destroying Ukraine’s critical infrastructure.

An interview with Anastasia Kirilenko, an investigative reporter based in Moscow. Interviewer: Maciej Zaniewicz

MACIEJ ZANIEWICZ: After watching your film, Who is Mr. Putin, one gets the sense that the whole Russian political system today grew out of the criminal world of the 1990s, which was created by Vladimir Putin himself.

ANASTASIA KIRILENKO: When Putin was a presidential candidate in 2000, journalists rushed to explain who he was. I remember very well the headlines: he is a man who came out of nowhere. In fact, in St Petersburg everyone knew very well who he was. There were enough criminal scandals connected to Putin. In 2000 many journalists were confused. Reporters from the Moscow Times went to St Petersburg and found people who had worked with Putin, but those people could not recall any details about what it was like to work with him.