Beacons of hope in city of darkness

THE streets are covered in ice, the buildings dark and cold, but hope still burns eternal, if only for the few daily hours of electricity.

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Mayor Vitali Klitschko said: “We must get through the next several days, which will be very difficult,” after yet another blitz by Russian missiles on energy infrastructure.

City services are cut to a minimum, with residents of hard-hit areas living in tents heated by portable generators under the buildings that had once been their home.

Forecasts offer only a distant respite: the second week in March before the thermometer spends any real time above zero. Firstly Kyiv needs to get through several more days of near -20C.