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 93.5 degrees Fahrenheit (34.2 degrees Celsius) in Kyiv for July 15. Temperatures on Tuesday were expected to reach even higher.