Ukrainians struggle with scorching heat amid power crisis

On some evenings, Ukrainian mother Margaryta Zakharchuk wanders around her neighbourhood in the sweltering heat waiting for the electricity to come back on so she can take the lift to her 12th-floor apartment.

"We walk around outside until 10 o'clock so we don't need to climb up with two kids," she said.

Zakharchuk, 43, is among the millions of Ukrainians struggling amid a record heat wave compounded by regular power cuts that make household appliances like air conditioning units and refrigerators useless.

Regular Russian air strikes have ravaged the country's energy system, leading to hours-long rolling blackouts that have forced residents and businesses to adapt in the extreme heat.

The Central Geophysical Observatory said on Tuesday it had clocked a record-high 34.2 degrees Celsius in Kyiv for July 15. Temperatures on Tuesday were expected to reach even higher.

Zakharchuk, for instance, is limited in what she can cook for her family of four because food spoils quicker, she said.

Like many other Ukrainians, her daily life is divided into blocks of time when electricity is available.

"The light comes on and you begin doing everything: washing, ironing, cooking, charging all your devices," she said while splashing down her one-year-old daughter Vasilisa in the sink.

Zakharchuk added that her family had considered leaving town, but that options to do so were unavailable.

"Now it's a long road up back home."