Liliya Shpilevaya conducts Pilates training in the absence of electricity and heating at a temperature of 10 degrees Celsius indoors in Kyiv, on Tuesday.Olga Ivashchenko/The Globe and Mail
Inside a reformer Pilates studio in Kyiv, there’s no electricity, heat or water. But women still leave their freezing homes to work out there because they feel warm when they leave.
They use the light from their cellphones to change and bundle into layers of warm clothes. A dark hallway with cold floors leads to the studio, which is illuminated by flashlights. They get into position on the reformer Pilates machines and the instructor, Liliya Shpilevaya, cheerfully starts the class.
She walks between the reformers and asks the women if they are freezing. One student says that on this day there’s a Canadian among them “freezing here with us” and everyone laughs. Ms. Shpilevaya, 42, jokes: “Let me put my lipstick on.” Everyone laughs some more. “Alright girls, everyone lie on your back and place your arms along your body,” she says.
Temperatures are about 10 degrees indoors during the classes.Olga Ivashchenko/The Globe and Mail
And for 45 minutes in the bitter cold, as string lights and flashlights cast shadows on the walls, Ms. Shpilevaya takes her students away from the Russian attacks and cold apartments that await them when class is over.
In the early hours of Tuesday morning, Russia launched a salvo of missiles and drones against Ukraine, targeting energy infrastructure across the country. That evening, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that more than one million people in Kyiv were without electricity and thousands of apartment buildings were without heat in temperatures under -10 degrees. Many were also left without water.
Volker Turk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said Russia’s attack “can only be described as cruel. They must stop. Targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure is a clear breach of the rules of warfare.”
Sofiia Titova often goes to Pilates with her friends to spend time together. She says the classes makes them happy, despite the war in their country.Olga Ivashchenko/The Globe and Mail
After the Tuesday evening class, Sofiia Titova, who is 26 and works in advertising, says she’s feeling good and has lots of energy. “On this day, crazy madness day, I like to go to Pilates because it’s like a guilty pleasure,” she says. She often goes with her girlfriends to spend time together and get a dose of dopamine. It’s something that makes them happy, she says, despite the war in their country.
“We don’t have heating, electricity or water, so it’s hard, but we choose to stay in Kyiv. We work here, we go to cafés, the cinema, and try to live a normal life – as normal as it can be.”
When Ms. Titova gets home, she says her apartment will be very cold. It will be 10 degrees indoors, about the same temperature as the studio. She wears several layers: two pairs of socks, and leggings underneath her pants.
“People who live in Kyiv, they’re really strong,” she says, adding that Ukrainians do their best to continue with their lives, regardless of Russia’s attacks. Still, Ms. Titova says, everyone wants it to end as soon as possible.
Women in Kyiv still leave their freezing homes to work out at these Pilates classes because they feel warm when they leave.Olga Ivashchenko/The Globe and Mail
In the change room, lit by a small rechargeable flashlight, a hairdryer lies on the vanity, in front of a mirror surrounded by small, darkened lightbulbs.
Ms. Shpilevaya shifts her weight between her heels and her toes, and tucks her hands into the sleeves of her sweater to try and stay warm. Her first classes that day weren’t too bad, she says, but as the day went on, she noticed the cold: “I’m really freezing.”
There was heat and water here before the previous night’s attack, she says, but no electricity. The managers of the studio told instructors they didn’t have to work in such conditions and could cancel their classes, but Ms. Shpilevaya chose to bundle up and continue teaching. She feels a sense of responsibility to her students because the class helps improve not only their physical health, but also their mental health.
Ms. Shpilevaya says she feels responsible for her students' well-being, and that her classes give them a brief reprieve from Russian attacks and cold apartments that await them when the workout is over.Olga Ivashchenko/The Globe and Mail
“It’s kind of natural for me to share this positive energy with people I’m working with,” she says. “This war is really horrific and horrible but I try not to be distracted by the news ... I should have an opportunity to earn some money, and to help people cope with all of it.”
Ms. Shpilevaya says she’s often shocked to hear that people travel far distances to reach the studio. “But they need it, they need this exchange of positive energy and this support.” She shares that she, too, needs the lessons for that reason.
“It’s not a short-term war,” she says. “Everything is bad. What else should we do? Should we just give up?”
With reports from Kateryna Hatsenko
Olga Ivashchenko/The Globe and Mail