Kyiv's business blackout: When the sirens stop the sales

In Ukraine's capital, the conflict is reshaping daily life in ways you don't always see on the battlefield. Power cuts, rising costs and disrupted routines are piling pressure on the city's economy – and on what people can afford.

Kyiv in winter can look almost ordinary at first glance: busy streets, buzzing cafés, commuters scrolling phones with gloved hands. Then the mood shifts in minutes. A siren rises. Lights flicker. Shops go quiet. And small business owners start doing the same maths again: how much did we lose this time?

For Yurii Kolomiiets, keeping his small business open has become a daily test of endurance – fewer customers, higher overheads, and the constant uncertainty of the next outage. 

"The main thing is keeping the business running," he says. "There are power outages and rising costs… and the war affects everything." 

Then he points to what he calls the sharpest squeeze of all – electricity prices. 

"Here they charge us 15 hryvnias [$0.35] per kilowatt-hour – in an apartment it's 4.64 [$0.11]. That's three times more… and on top of that, they cut the power."

'If there's no electricity, I can't do anything'

Just a few meters down the street, Alexey Biba repairs phones and sells accessories – a job that depends on one simple thing: electricity. 

His work is built around testing devices, charging batteries, switching screens on and off. When the power drops, the whole business freezes. 

"It affects everything," he says. "If there's no electricity, I can't test anything, can't charge anything, can't turn anything on – I can't do anything. It's a complete collapse. No power, no work – that's it."

And the pressure isn't only what customers pay at the counter. When the lights go out, businesses lose hours. Equipment can't run. Deliveries stall. Owners still pay rent and wages while the clock ticks.

Valeriy Bebyk, a Kyiv-based Doctor of Political Sciences, says this is exactly the point of targeting energy infrastructure. 

"Within a hybrid war, the enemy strikes energy infrastructure," he says. "That cannot help but affect the activity of enterprises, the lives of ordinary citizens – and of course the way Ukrainian politicians shape their financial policies."

Another reality, he adds, is external support. 

"Without the European Union's support, our economy simply wouldn't have made it through. That assistance has been a lifeline – helping keep the system running and the country financially afloat."

In Kyiv, conflict doesn't just hit the front line. It hits the power switch, and it hits people's wallets. Because every blackout comes with a bill… and everyone here is paying it.