Tracers are seen in the night sky as Ukrainian servicemen fire at drones during a Russian strike on Kyiv, on Oct. 30.Gleb Garanich/Reuters
For the past two months, Oksana Parafeniuk has been struggling with sleep deprivation, as constant air alerts and the sounds of explosions rattle Kyiv at night. She regularly takes her two-year-old son to the hallway of her apartment and monitors the notifications on her phone to find out how close the danger is. The windowless space is a relatively safe place to be.
Kyiv residents find it difficult to get regular sleep because of Russia’s constant attacks on their city. It’s rare to sleep more than half the night without being awakened by alarms or the sounds of air defence systems at work.
“I forget when I had normal sleep. My brain can’t work effectively the next day after a sleepless night. I also started to sleep during the day to feel slightly better. But the next night, drones attacked the city again, and all of it repeated,” Ms. Parafeniuk said, adding that the situation often leaves her depressed when the night comes. “During the day, I am living a normal life, but I struggle to survive during the night.”
She has been thinking about moving abroad for part of the winter if the attacks continue apace. “Some nights when we are so tired, my husband and I leave our son alone in the corridor, while we are trying to sleep in our bed, not just sitting near him,” Ms. Parafeniuk said. “But often it only works until the first explosion, when one of us starts to monitor the situation on our phone.”
There has been a 20- to 30-per-cent increase in the number of residents reporting sleep problems this autumn, said Yevhen Poiarkov, a somnologist at the Dobrobut clinic in Kyiv. He did not see the same number of problems in previous years – only when attacks on the city are constant.
A resident stands in front of a Kyiv apartment building damaged by a Russian drone strike.Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters
In September and October, 2023, there were 23 air-raid alerts in Kyiv, which lasted 25.2 hours. During the same period this year, there were 86, lasting 124 hours, according to Air-alarms.in.ua.
“Since fatigue accumulates, we have patients who are annoyed, can’t concentrate and feel themselves not good in general,” Dr. Poiarkov said.
He said people need more time to refresh after they have been exhausted. But Kyiv residents never get the chance to rest properly. Instead, he sees the exacerbation of chronic diseases, disorientation and reduced working capacity.
“I’ve become used to not sleeping until 3 a.m.,” said Iryna Kondratiuk. Each night, she waits for drones to attack the city. “I tried to sleep and took sleeping pills, but then the following day I couldn’t hear the phone alarm and missed my work.”
Ms. Kondratiuk, a manicurist, said that after two months like this, it has become difficult to manage psychologically. “I shifted my work from the first part of the day to the second, trying to adapt to reality, but almost every night, I end up at the house entrance watching on my phone. Even when I sleep, I am waking up every one or two hours.”
Psychologist Tatiana Tsilenko says people who experience a chronic lack of sleep often have a variety of problems, including difficulties with hearing and deteriorating vision. “A person loses connection with reality, their brain doesn’t operate effectively any more. It’s a torture when the whole city can’t sleep, which creates dangers for people’s lives and their health.”
She said many people are losing interest in their hobbies. They often have pessimistic attitudes and can’t connect with others, which leads to issues at work.
“When one person didn’t sleep it’s not visible, but when it’s a big group of people or the whole city, it creates tension in the society. One incorrect reply can create problems for the whole department. Ukrainians are adapting to sleep deprivation … but it’s influencing the quality of their life.”