People walk through the Fomin Botanical Garden in Kyiv on Dec. 21. Kyiv saw its first heavy snowfall of the season on the evening of Dec. 20. (Oleg Petrasiuk)
Kyiv had its first heavy snowfall of the season on the evening of Dec. 20, with 13 centimeters of snow rapidly covering the capital.
Municipal workers clean the snow in the Taras Shevchenko Park in central Kyiv on Dec. 21. Kyiv saw its first heavy snowfall of the season on the evening of Dec. 20. (Oleg Petrasiuk)
Traffic ground to a halt across the city while the number of road accidents surged. For example, a tram derailed on Kyrylivska Street in the Podil neighborhood.
Traffic remained slow on Dec. 21 as Kyiv was dealing with the consequences of the season's first heavy snowfall. Mask wearing is mandatory on public transport in Kyiv, but passengers often pull their masks down during the ride. (Oleg Petrasiuk)
The city authorities reported that they deployed 287 snow plows and 354 municipal workers to clean the snow off the streets.
A boy sleds down a hill in central Kyiv on Dec. 21. Kyiv saw its first heavy snowfall of the winter on Dec. 20. (Oleg Petrasiuk)
The snowfall was accompanied by a cold snap: Temperature fell to -9 degrees Celsius on Dec. 21 and is expected to stay below zero for most of the week. Due to the cold weather, heating points have opened in Kyiv.
Kyiv saw its first heavy snowfall of the season on the evening of Dec. 20. (Oleg Petrasiuk)
On the bright side, Kyiv saw its first glimpse of sunlight in several weeks the day after the snowfall. Daily snowfalls are forecasted to begin again on Dec. 24.
Real winter came to Kyiv on Dec. 20-21, with the season's first heavy snowfall and the temperatures sliding to minus 9 Celsius. (Oleg Petrasiuk)
The attack against the capital comes shortly after Ukraine's military launched long-range Storm Shadow missiles in a mass strike against a Russian chemical plant on Oct. 21.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also do not plan to meet in person in the near future, though they held a "productive" call on Oct. 20, a State Department spokesperson told the Kyiv Independent.
The Bryansk Chemical Plant produces gunpowder, explosives, and rocket fuel components for the Russian military. It has been sanctioned by the U.S. and U.K.
The former head of Ukraine’s state-owned grid operator Ukrenergo, Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, says his opponents were likely behind a law enforcement raid on his home on Oct. 21, in a phone call with the Kyiv Independent.
The Kyiv Independent is excited to introduce its 2025 Holiday Gift Guide — a handpicked selection of over 90 meaningful gift ideas from more than 75 Ukrainian brands.
"We strongly support President Trump's position that the fighting should stop immediately, and that the current line of contact should be the starting point of negotiations," a joint statement read.
