A Ukraine reporter's guide to managing wartime blackouts caused by Russia

"Have you been on a plane during severe turbulence, fearing that the shaking aircraft is about to fall apart and tumble down? Brief moments of weightlessness stop your breath, perhaps you whisper prayers and remember everyone you love. That's the feeling you get during a Russian air raid in Kyiv, Ukraine, and there have been more than 1,800 of them since Russia's full-scale invasion began in 2022."

"These days, they are bigger, scarier and longer than ever, because each one involves hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles. They begin after dark and sometimes last in waves until dawn. Whooshing missiles tear up the night sky in two. Drones buzz like horror movie chainsaws or giant mosquitoes out of childhood flu nightmares. What's really harrowing is to hear two or three drones at once I sardonically call it stereo and Dolby surround"

"while the arrhythmia of bass drum-like air defence explosions coincides with your heartbeat. Each boom and thud chokes your body with adrenaline, and some shake your house, but after a couple of hours, your brain gives up, and you fall asleep processing the booms into nightmares. And in the morning, you fall awake feeling hungover and disoriented and read about the consequences. You're glad when no one is killed, and still sad because several people are usually wounded, and several apartment buildings are damaged."

Kyiv experiences frequent and escalating nighttime air raids combining hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles that began after Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. The attacks produce intense turbulence-like fear, with missiles and drones tearing the night sky and creating deafening explosions from air defences. Residents endure prolonged hours of adrenaline, sleep disruption, nightmares, morning disorientation, and ongoing anxiety about casualties and damage. Civil infrastructure, including medical clinics, loses power and requires generators during blackouts. The scale of the attacks results in wounded civilians and damaged apartment buildings even when fatalities are avoided. The situation prompts questions about the human cost for both victims and operators of the weapons.

Read at www.aljazeera.com