Ukraine: Farnham Refugee's family facing severe blackouts at home
Thousands of Ukrainians face a bleak winter following intense attacks on infrastructure last month.
A Ukrainian refugee in Farnham says her family have frequent blackouts that last days - and she considers them to be the lucky ones.
Thousands of people still in the country are facing a bleak winter following intense Russian attacks on infrastructure last month.
Temperatures regularly drop below zero, people rely on generators for electricity and heating. Not everyone has access to one of those.
Anatsasiia Zavorina told Greatest Hits Radio Surrey her family, including her husband, are still near Kharkiv, one of the worst hit areas just 40km from the Russian border.
She came over here with her children to ensure they could stay in education.
She told Greatest Hits Radio how bad the situation is out in Ukraine.
"Since November the temperature has been constantly going below zero as it usually does in Ukraine this time of year. Throughout end of March we get snow and temperature up to -20.
"They only get electricity 5 or 6 hours a day. Sometimes they have to stay without electricity for 30 hours in a row.
"When the power's cut the internet lasts about 2 hours and then there's no connection at all. So I can't check on them and of course I get really, very worried."
US secretary of state Antony Blinken has condemned Russia's assault on Ukraine's power grid, saying that Moscow had turned its war machine to such strikes in order to "turn off the heat... so that civilians suffer".
Mr Blinken spoke at a Nato foreign ministers meeting in Bucharest, Romania, devoted in part to coordinating aid to keep the lights - and furnaces - on in Ukraine, where Russian strikes have damaged an estimated third of that country's electrical infrastructure.
The top US diplomat said: "Because President (Vladimir) Putin is failing to defeat Ukraine militarily, he is now prosecuting war against civilians.
"And he's doing that by trying to destroy Ukraine's energy infrastructure, to turn off the light, to turn off the heat, to turn off the water, so that civilians suffer."
Despite all of that Anastasiia says they're quite fortunate.
"My family are in a not bad situation because they're living in our private country house which has all the supplies they need. They have a generator, they have fireplaces and plenty of wood stacked.
She says of all the things she'll miss this year, her family are the foremost, but she'll also miss their christmas trees and snow as well.
"The new year is the biggest holiday. It's always a festive jolly and loud time of year. There would normally be plenty of fireworks and people would go out to the parks, and new year fairs. Kids would stay up to celebrate the new year.
"It would normally be a quite festive and happy time of year."
This year Kyiv has decided it will erect a Christmas tree once again, but there will be no lights to save energy for civilians who need it most.