Resetting clocks in time of war: somnologist warns of health risks
15 September 2025 16:39
ANALYSIS
Ukraine will switch to winter time again this year, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has not signed the bill passed in July 2024 to abolish seasonal time change. The document was initiated by the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk, but it seems that this initiative was not coordinated with the real center of decision-making in Ukraine.
The law was (not) adopted
The debate about winter and summer time is indeed causing a wide resonance in society – the same resonance was caused by Stefanchuk’s bill, which proposed to abolish seasonal time in Ukraine.
“Every year, the transition to winter time will take place on the last Sunday of October. In particular, this year it is scheduled for the night of Saturday (October 24) to Sunday (October 25). We hope that if supported by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, this seasonal change of clocks will be the last one, as the draft law clearly stipulates that seasonal time change does not apply,”
– read the explanatory note to the document.
The MPs passed the document relatively easily and sent it to the president for consideration, but that was the end of it. As in the case of many other high-profile bills, Zelenskyy did not act in a manner that is not provided for by the Constitution and laws.
The fact is that, according to the Constitution of Ukraine, the President must sign the law or veto it within 15 days and return it to the Parliament for revision. After that, the Verkhovna Rada can finalize the document and approve it in a new version or override the president’s veto with 300 votes in favor. In this case, he is obliged to sign the bill.
Zelenskyy did nothing – he did not sign the bill and did not return it to parliament for revision.
“If the President of Ukraine does not return the law for reconsideration within the prescribed period, the law shall be deemed approved by the President of Ukraine and shall be signed and officially promulgated,”
– states the Constitution of Ukraine. However, it does not specify by whom the law “shall be signed”. Therefore, in practice, failure to sign a law without returning it to the Verkhovna Rada is a kind of “silent veto” by the president, which is almost stronger than a real legal veto, since this “silent” veto cannot be overridden. The law “hangs”.
Therefore, the draft law on the abolition of seasonal time did not become law because it was not signed and promulgated.
Ruslan Stefanchuk is an undisputed member of the president’s team, and it is hard to assume that he acted on his own initiative when he submitted the bill. It is more likely that Bankova Street could not help but notice how much the completely non-political document excited the public during its consideration and decided to “put it to sleep” for good.
“Since the President did not enact the law on time change, yes, this year Ukraine will most likely switch to winter time. Ruslan Stefanchuk, as the initiator of the project, is in constant contact with the President’s Office, but I think the situation will not change,”
– told
Another MP, Heorhiy Mazurashu, notes that there is, in fact, a difference when to sign the document, as it depends on whether Ukraine will remain on “summer” or “winter” time.
“Yes, until the law is signed, it means that there will continue to be a transition between “summer” and “winter” time. But if the President were to sign the law now, we would remain on daylight saving time permanently. And this is in line with the sentiments of the obvious majority of voters who give feedback on this topic,”
– mazurash says
So, most likely, on the last Sunday of October, Ukraine will switch to winter time again. "Komersant Ukrainian" decided to ask a doctor what this means for us in the current conditions, when Ukrainian society is morally, psychologically and physically exhausted by a long and difficult war.
Medical warnings: winter time as a physiological necessity
Somnologist Yuriy Pogoretsky disagrees with Mazurash about daylight saving time and categorically advocates for the preservation of winter time as the only correct option for the nation’s health.
“Winter time is the most efficient and correct for sleep. Shifting and shifting circadian rhythms, especially in times of war, is bad for the health of Ukrainians,”
– emphasizes the expert.
The doctor insists on the need to switch to winter time while simultaneously stopping the return to summer time:
“It is necessary to switch to winter time, but not to switch to daylight saving time in spring. Because any shift during the transition negatively affects sleep and sleep quality.”
Scientific justification of circadian rhythms
In support of his position, Pogoretsky refers to the 2017 Nobel Prize in Medicine, which was awarded for confirming the existence of circadian rhythms, a 24-hour cycle of sleep and wakefulness.
“The ‘golden’ hormone, the key sleep hormone, is melatonin, and it should not be shifted. It is released much more around 23:00. Therefore, the general rules and healthy sleep look like this: go to bed at 10:00 pm, get up at 6:00 am. The room is dark, quiet, and cool,”
– says the somnologist.
To improve the quality of sleep, the doctor advises eating foods with tryptophan, an amino acid that boosts melatonin production. These are foods such as hard cheese, poultry and red meat, fish, nuts, beans, eggs, etc.
According to the doctor, melatonin is a very important hormone, as it is “responsible” not only for sleep, but also for performance, combat effectiveness, weight loss, sexuality, activity, etc.
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Medical consequences of seasonal changes
Turning the clocks twice a year disrupts the circadian rhythm and, accordingly, the well-established work of melatonin.
“Sometimes people can’t readjust for months. There are patients who wait six months to fully restore their sleep to return to, for example, that long-awaited winter sleep time. This has a particularly negative impact on the health of people with chronic diseases,”
– pogoretsky warns.
The somnologist highlights the most threatening consequences:
“Cardiovascular problems, blood pressure, and hypertensive crises come first. Strokes and heart attacks are more likely to occur at this transitional moment.”
Global experience and economic arguments
Pogoretsky emphasizes that “many countries have already switched and are living stably on winter time,” and is critical of the economic arguments in favor of switching.
“Economic benefits? I am very skeptical about this issue. Who has studied the number of deaths, and who has studied the number of hypertensive crises?”
– the doctor asks rhetorically.
According to the somnologist, Europeans and Americans have long calculated medical losses from seasonal transitions, while in Ukraine such studies are not conducted.
Mental health during the war
The expert pays special attention to the impact of the transitions on the mental state of Ukrainians during the war.
“At this moment, depressive states are worsening, and while we are still at war, PTSD is simply increasing in number and severity,”
– pogoretsky warns.
The doctor urges:
“Do not touch sleep, but on the contrary, give people the opportunity not to remember twice a year to change the clocks, but to remember their sleep every day. To earn their sleep.”
Military somnology: the Ukrainian experience
Pogoretsky studied the work of American scientists on the sleep of military personnel. The statistics are impressive:
“From 2001 to 2012, there was a catastrophic increase in insomnia – a 650% increase in this problem. Snoring, apnea [temporary cessation of breathing during sleep – ed. The situation is the same with metabolic syndrome, depression, and so on – up to and including fatalities.”
The somnologist emphasizes the uniqueness of the Ukrainian situation, which is only beginning to be studied by experts:
“Europe is not engaged in military somnology. It is we who are now introducing the concept of Ukrainian military somnology. Europe has not heard of it, they do not understand how we sleep here during the war.”
The doctor recommends that soldiers make the most of every opportunity to rest:
“We have to fight for every minute, because the military sleep wherever they can. Preferably, as it used to be in the army: at 10 p.m. we go to bed, at 6 a.m. we get up. But given the constant fighting, we need to use every moment when it is convenient to sleep.”
Conclusions
Summarizing, Yuriy Pogoretsky emphasizes:
“We cherish every hour of sleep! It has been physiologically proven by American and European somnologists that we need to switch to winter time and not change anything else. I support this opinion.”
Thus, the medical expert clearly supports the preservation of winter time as the only correct time for the health of Ukrainians, especially in times of war, when the quality of sleep is critical for the physical and psychological well-being of the nation.
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