On the night of October 27, Ukrainians will turn their clocks back a year, switching to "winter" time. This transition is against many discussions, but somnologists claim that the "winter" time is natural for the human body.
As Pylypenko said, from the point of view of biology and evolution, the standard time for man, for his nature, is the "winter" time, and not the artificially created "summer".
"Man could not fully adapt to the "summer" time. She had an average of 50 minutes of sleep deprivation during these 7 months. Just the fact that finally we have already listened to the majority of the world community, because the American Society for the Study of Sleep, the European ones, all save that, after all, the transfer to "summer" time should be canceled, because it is absolutely from the point of view of health impractical, and from the point of view of economy. On the other hand, if you look at the risk areas, or how it will affect… in any case, changing the clocks affects the person negatively, because we have to cross this fairway. Shifting the hands of the clock has a negative effect, because a person's circadian rhythm will go astray," Pylypenko said.
According to her, moving the hands of the clock creates desynchronization.
"That is, we eat at the same time, the body temperature decreases according to the fluctuations of the biological clock, blood pressure, heart rate. This is all regulated by our internal biological clock. It is precisely these circadian rhythms that control the change of day and night. We can't just force ourselves to sleep because it's the time. Or we can't wake up because, for example, it's six o'clock instead of seven. We will either wake up awake or wake up earlier when the hands of the clock are turned.
This is precisely this inconsistency, which is very difficult for many people to survive. Normally, a healthy person adapts to the new time within 24-48 hours. But on the condition, if she is absolutely healthy, and on the condition that there is no lack of sleep. All Ukrainians have a lack of sleep. We all lose sleep because of our sick neighbor. We are all automatically at risk because we all have sleep deprivation. We are in prolonged stress, which exhausts the nervous system," the somnologist added.
She noted that Ukrainians will feel the effects of the time change as early as next Monday.
"Of course there will be consequences. First of all, it is on Monday, because we get up at a new time. We lay down for the old, but get up for the new. Eating, for example, going to the bathroom, etc. we will still be regulated by the old rhythm. Yes, they say that, for example, we will have an hour more to sleep, but our circadian rhythm is added precisely by light. Light is the sensor. The more intensively it hits the retina, the more the brain receives information about whether it is day or night," Pylypenko said.
The transfer of clock hands in Ukraine is regulated by Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 509 of May 13, 1996 "On the procedure for calculating time on the territory of Ukraine." It indicates that the time of the second time zone has been introduced on the territory of Ukraine, with the clock turning annually: on the last Sunday of March at 3 o'clock by 1 hour forward and on the last Sunday of October at 4 o'clock by 1 hour back.
In 2011, the Verkhovna Rada made the first attempt to cancel the transfer of the hands of the clock, passing Resolution No. 3914, which provided for keeping "summer" time in Ukraine.
However, this caused dissatisfaction in the western part of Ukraine, due to the disadvantage of waking up too early, because there the solar time differs sharply from the 3rd time zone. Opinions were expressed that such a time would primarily harm children attending schools and kindergartens.
Later, the Council recognized the resolution as having lost its validity. Rumors of a new reversal of clock hands began in 2012. Arguments were made that the cancellation would be convenient for holding Euro-2012.
In October 2020, the current speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk, submitted a draft law to the parliament, which was supposed to cancel the transition to "winter" and "summer" time.
Adoption of the law, according to Stefanchuk, "should ensure the protection of territorial integrity and strengthening of national security of Ukraine, since, as is known, the time of the aggressor state - the Russian Federation - has been established in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. Therefore, the establishment and consolidation throughout the territory of Ukraine, without excluding the unified Kyiv time, will in turn strengthen the security positions of Ukraine and contribute to the de-occupation and reintegration of the temporarily occupied territories."
The Verkhovna Rada reviewed the document only after 6 months. The draft law was adopted on the basis of shortening the period of preparation, because the document stipulated that Ukraine should stay warm in the "winter" time. However, within a few days, the draft law was sent for a repeated second reading.
The draft law was considered in the parliament only after 3 years. On July 16, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted draft law No. 4201 on canceling the transfer of time from winter to summer time in Ukraine.
According to the law, the seasonal change of time is not carried out on the territory of Ukraine, and it should take effect from January 1, 2025. That is, Ukraine should remain in "winter" time.
In September, the draft law was submitted to the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi. But recently it became known that Zelensky does not intend to sign the law on canceling the seasonal change of clocks. It is reported that this decision is related to possible economic losses and citizen petitions.
