Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko stated that Russia’s attacks on the energy infrastructure show that Russia’s goal is to destroy as many Ukrainians as possible writes the Lithuanian public media LRT.
In a conversation with LRT RADIO, the mayor of Kyiv talked about the situation in the capital of Ukraine and what tests the winter brings to the war-torn country. The mayor pointed out that Russia is deliberately destroying infrastructure that civilians depend on, and these are attacks that no one wanted to believe. He said that everyone is aware that they are in a war situation, but now it has turned from a war into a genocide: «We didn’t expect that the Russians would be destroying our critical infrastructure. The war has rules, but everything that the Russians do is against those rules.
The war should not be directed at children, women, civilians. We’ve never expected that the Russians would attack our critical infrastructure, but they want to freeze us, they want to kill every Ukrainian or force people to leave and make the country free for Russians.
Russians need Ukraine without Ukrainians. It’s not a war. It’s a genocide of the Ukrainian people. It’s terrorism.»
Kyiv is home to 3,5 million people, and while there are 500 emergency centers in the city to keep people warm and, for example, to allow to charge their phones, that’s not enough. According to the mayor, even 5,000 or 50,000 such centers would not be enough. Therefore, the city’s residents are regularly reminded to take care of themselves and their loved ones as much as possible by providing warm clothes, water, and food supplies.
Although the situation in Kyiv is now a bit better than two weeks ago, it is still far from ideal. The city is still living with a 20% electricity deficit and electricity is not available around the clock. Klitschko said that the city authorities have prepared a schedule of scheduled power outages so that Kyiv residents can plan to use electrical appliances. However, electrical appliances are not the only problem.
Now, when the air temperature has dropped to minus ten degrees and below, the city administration is fighting not only against the darkness but also against the frost.
If there is no heating in the buildings, you don’t have to wait long until the air temperature in the apartment is the same as outside.
An evacuation plan is in place for the Ukrainian capital, and Klitschko said everyone is being urged to consider taking in people in need. At the moment, Kyiv is not yet evacuated, but the mayor said that if necessary, the city’s residents will be moved to villages around Kyiv, where heat and electricity are available. In addition to permanent residents, since February 24, Kyiv has taken in about 300,000 war refugees from settlements devastated by Russian aggression. Klitschko said that each of these people also needs work and social assistance, and it is offered:
«We don’t have much capacity, but we work with partners. It’s very important to stay together and defend these people who have lost their homes.»
The mayor added that the biggest mistake one can make is to think that the war is far away and does not affect them: «Ukraine is the largest country in Europe, and stability in Ukraine can bring stability to the whole region.» Klitschko thanked everyone who supports Ukraine and said: «Without your help, we wouldn’t survive, and that’s why we’ll never forget the help of our friends.»