Dave and I have just finished a week of hunkering inside and leaving our house only for work or Russian lessons. The temperatures in eastern Ukraine stayed at –25 C for the majority of last week, with snow and winds. News reports say that at least 130 people died and more than 500 were hospitalized with cold-related conditions in Ukraine, mostly in the Donetsk area. Temps like this aren’t extraordinary at home in the Upper Midwest, but here they are. Heating systems couldn’t keep up, so schools closed, and we wore our coats, hats and scarves at work all day (inside the building). Many more people don’t have cars than in the States, so many walk or take public transport. It’s kind of a pain to get from here to there when you don’t have a car in the winter, but it’s possible. However, when it’s that cold out, walking or even standing outside to wait for public transport can be dangerous. We walk about a half-mile to the bus stop from DCU, and we forced ourselves to walk it once the wind had died down, to go to Russian lessons and get groceries. Other than that, we stayed inside.
Happily, there was some heat, even if it wasn’t enough. The natural gas dispute that Ukraine and Russia had at the beginning of the year is settled for the time being, and the gas is back on after Russia cut its supply to Ukraine and Western Europe for a few days. Ukraine gets only around 30% of its gas from Russia, and I didn’t hear of any major shortages in Ukraine – from what I read in the news, people in Western Europe suffered more. In the new contract, Ukraine has agreed to pay around $100 per cubic meter, up from $50. More expensive than before, but not as bad as others - the Baltics pay around $120 and in Western Europe prices are expected to be around $250.
Laura
