In the winter of 2023, just after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, Natalia Kovalenko, the director of one of the largest kindergartens in Kyiv Oblast, was grappling with challenges that went far beyond lesson plans and playtime. As Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure intensified, her daily concerns narrowed to the most basic things: how to keep the building warm, and how to keep the lights on. “Children need light and warmth,” Kovalenko told the Kyiv Independent. On