On October 16, 2026, the heating season officially began in Kyiv. This was announced by the capital's mayor, Vitali Klitschko, on his Telegram channel, emphasizing that the heat supply is being launched under 'extreme conditions due to constant shelling.' According to him, heat will be supplied primarily to social infrastructure facilities — hospitals, schools, and kindergartens, which aligns with the traditional practice of turning on heating in Ukraine.
Launch Under Combat Conditions
Klitschko explicitly pointed out that the start of the heating season coincided with ongoing shelling of energy infrastructure. The mayor noted that despite this, heat supply in the capital is commencing. The connection of social institutions will be carried out based on individual applications from their managers, implying a phased and coordinated process rather than the simultaneous activation of all facilities. Previously, city authorities stated that Kyiv was fully prepared for the start of the heating season, but the exact start date depended on weather conditions, the need to save gas, and the security situation.
Where There Will Be No Heat
An important limitation of the current season is that heating will not be supplied to the entire territory of the capital. According to Klitschko, parts of the Dniprovskyi and Darnytskyi districts will remain without heat due to significant damage recently sustained by an energy facility in these areas. This means that residents of the respective microdistricts, even upon the onset of favorable weather conditions, will not receive heat in their radiators until the damaged infrastructure is repaired. The scale and timeframe for repairing the energy facility were not specified in the mayor's message.
Experts Assess the Capital's Readiness for Winter
Against the backdrop of the official launch of the heating season, experts offer a more reserved assessment of Kyiv's readiness for the winter period. Andriy Zakrevsky, Deputy Director of the Association of Energy and Natural Resources of Ukraine, stated on the 'Novyny.live' broadcast that Kyiv is only 72% gasified and, accordingly, 72% ready for winter. According to him, all buildings constructed after the 1980s taller than 10 floors are not supplied with gas and are not prepared for the heating season. 'Just as it was unprepared last year, it is unprepared now,' the expert emphasized. He also pointed out that successfully getting through the winter will depend on accumulated gas reserves in storage facilities and the degree of protection of water supply and sewage infrastructure.
Factors Influencing Heat Supply
Energy expert Yuriy Korolchuk, in turn, assessed the state of Ukraine's energy system as the worst compared to the beginning of last winter and predicts that residents' apartments could be only 12–15 °C warm in winter, alongside potential outages. Thus, despite the formal start of the heating season on October 16, the real level of heat supply for Kyiv residents in the coming months will be determined by a combination of factors: the state of gas infrastructure, fuel reserves, the intensity of shelling, and the ability of utility services to promptly repair damages.
