Kyiv Heating Standards May Drop: What Residents Need to Know

Heating standards in Kyiv may be lowered, forcing residents to rely on electricity for additional heating.

As a result of Russian occupiers’ strikes in Kyiv on November 3, both hot and cold water supplies were temporarily cut off . Meanwhile, the previous day, on November 2, the heating season for residential buildings had begun in the capital. Some residents in various parts of the city were forced to turn off their heating, following the water shortage.

A woman and child wrapped in blankets, watching a burning industrial scene through a window, with smoke rising and the area depicted in red.

Water supply and heating are closely linked, energy expert Stanislav Ignatiev told UNIAN. As for water, winter water shortages are a greater threat to the right bank, especially for residents of high-rise buildings.

Heating apartments during the cold season will also be challenging. An expert explained who is most at risk of heating problems.

Yesterday, Kyiv lost water, including cold water. Is this the responsibility of the Kyiv authorities or Vodokanal? And what should Kyiv residents prepare for?

Kyivvodokanal is a joint-stock company, its controlling stake owned by the Kyiv City Community. This means that the city council holds a management stake. However, it also includes private investors, including two companies—one registered in Cyprus and the other in the UK. Therefore, this is a joint responsibility of both the private investor and the Kyiv City Council.

They were supposed to jointly develop an energy modernization program for the water utility, installing either large cogeneration units or cogeneration systems to power the pumping units. This would ensure that the pumping units would continue to operate during a power outage, and Kyiv residents would continue to receive water. Experts had been discussing this since the beginning of this summer, but their advice was never heeded.

So Kyiv residents can expect there to be almost no hot water, and cold water will disappear during power outages – or what?

Yes, we’ve seen that water supply stability and pressure will depend on the electricity supply. This applies regardless of whether it’s on the left or right bank. It’s easier on the left bank because the water intake and treatment facilities are located on the left bank in Kyiv. Therefore, water is supplied first to the left bank—the Troyeshchyna area—and then to Osokory and the Darnytskyi district.

And let’s not forget that the enemy is attacking bridges. Our main water pipelines run right under the bridges, transferring water from the left bank through water intakes to the right bank. So when the enemy destroys bridges, they’re not just destroying transport infrastructure. They’re also destroying heat supply, for example, from CHPP-5 to the left bank or from CHPP-6 in Troyeshchyna to the right bank. The same applies to electricity, power transmission, and water supply.

Do residents of the top floors of high-rise buildings face the biggest water problems?

Absolutely. Our entire heating and water supply pressure system is designed for floors 5–9. If you have a modern building with its own pumping station, the responsibility of Kyivvodokanal or Kyivteploenergo ends at the so-called balance sheet ownership boundary—the building’s common inlet meter. After that, it’s the responsibility of either the management company or the condominium association.

Ultimately, even residents could provide the pumping group with a stable water supply so that floors 24–26 of multi-story buildings would have stable water and heat supply, even when the pressure in the city was at its lowest.

If there are such problems with hot and cold water now, doesn’t that mean there will be problems with heating too? The heating season was supposed to start in Kyiv on November 2nd…

Our city is supplied with electricity by three main combined heat and power plants: the privately owned Combined Heat and Power Plant No. 4, which is practically destroyed, and the municipally owned Combined Heat and Power Plant No. 5 and No. 6. Their primary business is generating electricity, which is where they become profitable.

In fact, our hot water supply and heating system is a cooling system for municipal thermal power plants during the winter (when generating electricity, turbines emit a lot of heat, which is used to heat homes and hot water for consumers, – UNIAN).

There is currently no generation there (after the shelling in January 2026, the thermal power plant is no longer capable of producing electricity, – UNIAN) – the enemy has completely destroyed or significantly damaged the turbine park in Kyiv.

Accordingly, these facilities must operate as large municipal boiler houses, which would be unprofitable for the city of Kyiv. Due to this characteristic of the hot water supply system, pressure will be maintained at a minimum level to reduce the burden on the city budget.

This will lead to a challenging heating season. Ultimately, household electricity consumption will increase, as residents will need to use additional heating due to insufficient coolant and hot water temperatures.

What will the temperature be in Kyiv residents’ apartments this winter?

This depends on how the heating system is organized. In older buildings, the situation will be best, as the minimum pressure will be sufficient to evenly distribute heat at a uniform temperature from the first to the fifth floors. In newer buildings, if the pumping unit is not working or there is no power, the lower floors will be adequately heated. However, without power or backup power, the upper floors will, bluntly speaking, freeze.

Currently, the indoor temperature standard for multi-apartment residential buildings is 18°C. The standard for Kyiv may be lowered due to the fact that two-thirds of Kyiv’s heat generation has been destroyed.reference

Stanislav IgnatievEnergy expert at the Ukrainian Institute of the Future

Stanislav Ignatiev is a Ukrainian scientist and energy efficiency expert. He holds a doctorate in engineering, is a professor, and is the Chairman of the Board of the Ukrainian Renewable Energy Association.

He is known to the general public as an expert at the Ukrainian Institute of the Future analytical center, where he specializes in energy security issues and industry development strategies.

He was educated in Kharkiv (Karazin Kharkiv National University, Law Academy) and also studied abroad, including a PhD from the Dresden University of Technology (Germany). Ignatiev was the founder of the Kharkiv Energy Cluster and headed Solar Generation, a company engaged in the construction of solar power plants.

(C)UNIAN 2026