Mayor tells AFP 600,000 fled Kyiv this month after Russian energy strikes
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Mayor Vitali Klitschko speaking during an interview with AFP at his office in Kyiv on Jan 20.
PHOTO: AFP
- Kyiv's Mayor Klitschko stated 600,000 residents evacuated after his call due to Russian strikes on energy facilities, leaving many without basic utilities.
- Klitschko urged more residents to leave to reduce pressure on the energy network, citing Putin's strategy to "break the resistance" amid freezing temperatures.
- He highlighted the critical situation, needing new energy systems but relying on anti-missile systems due to constant attacks and freezing conditions.
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KYIV - Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko told AFP on Jan 20 that more than half a million people have evacuated from Ukraine’s capital since he urged residents to temporarily relocate after Russian strikes earlier this month on vital energy facilities.
Air raid sirens rang out over Kyiv during an interview in which he said that around 600,000 people had heeded his call on Jan 9 to leave after a barrage of Russian drones and missiles cut power, water and heating to swathes of the city as temperatures plunged to minus 20 deg C.
“Not everyone has a chance to leave the city, but right now the population is reduced,” Mr Klitschko told AFP, specifying that 600,000 people had moved from the capital of some 3.6 million people.
“The temperature is almost minus 20, and Putin is using it to break the resistance, to drive everyone into depression, to create tension in society,” he said, referring to Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
He again urged people who had alternative accommodation to leave in order to reduce pressure on the energy network in the capital.
The Russian barrage of hundreds of drones and missiles on Jan 9 left half of all residential buildings in Kyiv – some 6,000 buildings – without heating.
Moscow’s forces have launched several more large-scale attacks since, including just hours before the interview in an overnight strike
Long power outages have become routine since Russian forces began systematically striking Ukrainian energy facilities in 2022.
But some residents now say they have just one or two hours of power all day – if any at all.
‘Fighting to survive’
AFP journalists in Kyiv have witnessed shops and restaurants closed due to the outages, out-of-order traffic lights, and public lighting shut off at night in parts of Kyiv.
“You can imagine if there is no power, no water at your home. You cannot take a shower. Your radiators are cold. The situation is very critical,” the mayor said.
“We’re fighting to survive, and fighting to give services to people – heating, water, electricity,” he said.
Mr Klitschko, a former world champion boxer who has held his role since 2014, has come under fire from the presidential administration for the city’s response to the attacks.
The solution to the problem, Mr Klitschko told AFP, was to build an entirely new energy system, but this was not possible with the conflict ongoing.
He said repair work was complicated by the freezing weather conditions and constant air raid sirens that force energy engineers to shelter to avoid attacks.
“Everything right now depends on anti-missile systems” that fend off more Russian attacks, he added. AFP
