KYIV — 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 July 17 it had clocked a record-high 34.2 deg C in Kyiv for July 15. Temperatures on July 16 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.

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