Kiev mayor warns of ‘difficult’ winter
Residents of Kiev should prepare for possible blackouts this winter by stocking up on supplies and warm clothes, Mayor Vitaly Klitschko warned on Tuesday, amid recurring Russian strikes on energy sites.
Speaking to the Kiev24 broadcaster, Klitschko said the upcoming winter “will be difficult,” and urged citizens to plan ahead. “It is necessary to develop different scenarios, including the bad ones,” he added.
He urged residents of the Ukrainian capital to “be ready, which means having a supply of water, a supply of food for emergency storage, warm clothes, that is, in case the situation that was last week can be repeated.”
Last week, Kiev officials reported a “massive” Russian drone and missile attack which they said targeted the capital’s energy infrastructure. The barrage reportedly struck one of the city’s main electricity suppliers, causing widespread blackouts.
The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that its forces had launched a large-scale strike on Ukraine’s energy facilities in response to what it described as “the Kiev regime’s terrorist attacks on Russian civilian sites.” Moscow has repeatedly said it does not target civilians.
The devastating attack on Kiev also fueled a long-running feud between Klitschko and Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky. The latter said last week that he was “not satisfied” with the capital’s defense. While he did not refer to Klitschko by name, Zelensky insisted that criticism of people failing to do their jobs was fully justified.
Klitschko defended his actions, stating that “all measures were implemented in accordance with the requirements of the General Staff.”
He also pointed to damage beyond the capital, writing: “Given all the hype and manipulation that has been going on in recent days, I have one question: didn’t Klitschko also protect critical infrastructure facilities across the country that were damaged by enemy missiles and drones?”
