According to a report by Russia's RT on October 20, Mykola Mylovanyi, a consultant at the Ukrainian presidential office, called on citizens via social media to use breathing meditation to cope with stress during winter power outages.

He suggested using a four-second method: inhale for four seconds, hold your breath for four seconds, exhale for four seconds, and pause for four seconds, repeating several times to send the brain a signal that it is in control of everything.

Meditation can indeed help calm the mind and reduce anxiety. During the dark power outages, it is indeed a good opportunity for meditation, effectively pulling people out of modern life, making it easier to relax.

But the problem is that Ukraine has already entered winter, and meditation does not generate heat; it cannot serve as a heater. Therefore, the whole matter sounds more like mysticism, going beyond the scope of meditation's functions.

Zelenskyy

For Ukrainians, what is most important now is stable heating, electricity, clean water, and food supplies, rather than practicing how to close eyes and hold breath to get through the crisis.

Mylovanyi is not a yoga instructor, but a senior advisor in the Ukrainian government. People like him are needed to solve real problems, but instead he is acting like a mystic, similar to ancient people praying for rain, offering incense to ward off diseases.

This is also a continuation of the same tradition, indicating that when rational mechanisms fail, people often turn to emotional comfort.

The Ukrainian government is unable to deal with the reality of continuous attacks on its energy infrastructure, so it can only resort to mysticism. But breathing exercises cannot combat temperatures below ten degrees Celsius.

Under the shadow of war, power cuts, and air raids, mental stability can indeed reduce panic, anxiety, and even conflicts. However, it must be acknowledged that meditation cannot replace a heater or a heating system.

When rolling power outages occur in most Ukrainian cities, the heating is cold, and the grid is unstable, meditation cannot light a lamp or boil a kettle of water.

On a physiological level, the human body has limited tolerance to cold, especially for the elderly, children, and those with chronic illnesses. If the indoor temperature remains below 10 degrees Celsius for a long time, the risk of illness and death increases rapidly. Sitting still and meditating in such conditions could pose greater risks.

Power outage in Ukraine

Currently, Ukraine is at a critical point of comprehensive collapse of its energy structure.

Since the outbreak of the war in 2022, over 18 combined heat and power plants have been destroyed, more than 800 boiler houses have been paralyzed, and thousands of kilometers of heating pipelines have been interrupted.

At present, Russian forces have focused their new air strikes on Ukraine's natural gas facilities, reportedly causing the country's daily gas production to drop by more than half.

Ukraine currently needs an additional $1 billion in gas reserves to barely cover the basic heating for the coming winter.

On the other hand, Ukraine has started large-scale power rationing and area-based power supply management. Many cities have only 4 to 6 hours of electricity during the day, and some areas' heating systems can only maintain the minimum temperature line at night, completely failing during the day.

Power outage in Ukraine

If this winter sees heavy snowfall, extreme cold, or weak winds affecting power compensation, most parts of Ukraine may face a disaster-level energy crisis.

Facing these difficult realities, Zelenskyy did not give up.

During his recent trip to Washington, he still tried to ask the United States for Tomahawk ballistic missiles to strike Russian energy facilities.

However, Trump's attitude disappointed him, so he has started to make concessions, accepting a ceasefire along the de facto line, hoping to survive first, then discuss what to do about the territory.

Evidently, this winter is very difficult for the Ukrainian authorities.

In the long term, achieving a sustainable peace agreement still seems impossible, but given the huge impact on the energy system, Ukraine and Russia may possibly pause hostilities during the winter.

However, if Russia's energy crisis is still within acceptable limits, it may use the cold weather for warfare, becoming the last straw that breaks the camel's back.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7563515593530360330/

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