Two-thirds of their money is for food and fuel and they forgot about the night life.. transformations imposed by the war on the Ukrainians

Kiev

- In front of a station in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, the driver Serhie stood in a long queue, waiting to fill up the quantity of fuel available to him, in light of its scarcity and specifying the periods of sale.

Serhi told Al Jazeera Net that buying and storing quantities of fuel aside has become a habit for many Ukrainians, who take into account the possibility of displacement again if the violent bombing of Kyiv is renewed.

Until the moments of the first war on February 24, most Ukrainians were not convinced that neighboring Russia would launch a massive military attack on their country;

This is the only explanation for the state of "indifference" that prevailed, and prevented them from preparing for war and its circumstances.

However, the repercussions of the military attack soon imposed themselves on the population, and over the past 4 months, new habits emerged that became a routine part of their daily lives, including the race to store fuel and food.

The Russian bombing led to a scarcity of salt and several other goods in Ukraine (Al-Jazeera)

Stockpiling and some shortages

Recently, a Ukrainian home is hardly without enough reserves for several weeks of drinking water and cleaning supplies, medicines and basic foodstuffs, such as flour, oil, sugar, semolina and salt.

In the days of the first war, these materials vanished from the shelves of stores, and although things returned to normal, without a slight shortage or large inflation in prices, it is clear that people's demand for stockpiling remains, and it has become a priority for them.

This behavior is due to the fact that many warehouses and food factories have been targeted by bombing, so that salt, a short time ago, became scarce and expensive, after it was cheap, to the point that the public used to sprinkle it with sand on the roads to melt the winter snow.

Here, the Ukrainians are telling jokes about this scarcity, and some video publications - for example - showed the owner of the bag of salt as a rich man surrounded by girls in pursuit of his wealth.

Ukrainians are allowed to fill only 10-20 liters of fuel (Al-Jazeera)

Lack of fuel and long queues

In the fifth month of the war, queues of cars in front of gas stations became one of the prevailing daily scenes in Ukraine, and packing it has become like an opportunity not always available, as it may express the "savvy and cunning" of those who were able to secure it.

Many are forced to stand for long hours in front of gas stations that open their doors for short periods and without prior warning, and sell fuel in limited quantities, often ranging between 10 and 20 liters only.

In recent months, the method of relying on “coupons” that are exclusively granted to companies has spread to fill their cars with about 40 liters at once. Attempts to defraud and price gouging.

Towards public and electric transportation

Due to the scarcity of fuel and the increase in its prices by nearly 200%, Ukrainians tended to rely on government public transportation, which did not raise their prices, especially since many of these means depend on electricity.

People with high and middle incomes were forced to adopt the low- and low-income model of life, so that public transportation is more full than ever, especially in the capital, Kyiv, even though a third of its residents have not yet returned from the countries of asylum and areas of displacement.

According to a study conducted by the Ukrainian "RPK" website, the demand for electric transportation in Ukraine, ranging from bicycles to scooters and even cars, has increased by 3 times than it was before the war.

While the market for ordinary cars is almost completely paralyzed.

New spending priorities

Thus, it became clear that the Ukrainians' spending priorities changed during the first four months of the war, and people are sticking to their new habits even after the relative calm in some areas.

The statistics of the "Privat Bank", the most widely used and widespread in the country, indicate that Ukrainians today spend about 50% of their money on food, and 27% on fuel.

Statistics also indicate a gradual return to cafes and restaurants since last May.

But Ukrainians - until today - are reluctant to market devices and electronics, which seem to be no longer a priority, such as phones, TVs, etc., as the demand for them has fallen by 41%.

A Ukrainian woman in one of the displacement centers in Poland follows the scenes of the Russian bombing of her country (Getty Images)

Virtual contact with parents

One of the habits that has become a daily routine in the lives of Ukrainians inside the country is communicating "virtually" with displaced parents and refugees far away.

Government statistics indicate that more than 8 million Ukrainians have left the country for neighboring countries and others as refugees, since the beginning of the war, most of them women and children.

They communicate daily with husbands and fathers through social media applications.

In one of the districts of the capital, Kyiv, Anton, 45, told Al Jazeera Net, "I am forbidden to travel, and my family cannot visit me for more than 21 days a year, otherwise they will be deprived with aid in Germany. We communicate daily several times over the Internet, and they send me pictures And video clips, and this relieves me and them of the pain of parting.”

Forget about the night life

In an unfamiliar picture in this country, the Ukrainians have become accustomed in recent months to the curfew, so the night life has been completely deleted from their dictionaries, especially among the youth group who found it "entertainment and pleasure".

In this context, the Ukrainian police are chasing violators of the curfew and storming the nightclubs that open their doors at night.

In many cases, orders for urgent enrollment into the army are distributed to those who have missed the year of compulsory service.

In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, young Andrei says, "I used to like to drive around at night with my friends, and stand at fast food restaurants, all of this disappeared. After 11 at night in Kyiv, we can't even talk together on the street."

"I am not criticizing the curfew, it is absolutely necessary, but I hope that the war will end and things will return to normal and we will return to our life that was full of fun and activity," he added.