Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure show that Moscow’s aim is to kill as many Ukrainians as possible, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko says in an interview with LRT RADIO.
The most discussed topic right now is the energy situation in Kyiv and the entire Ukraine. What is the current situation regarding electricity, water, and heating in Kyiv?
Two weeks ago, we were close to a blackout, almost without any electricity, water, and heating. But weather conditions two weeks ago were not so critical compared to today because it’s now almost -10 C, it’s freezing cold.
Two weeks ago, we fixed it, working 24 hours a day to bring back electricity, water, and heating. Yesterday, we had another attack from the Russians, but our military forces shot down almost all Russian missiles. We thank our military forces and our air defence! Thanks to our military, today we have all services, and our power plants are working well. Today, we are ready to deliver services to every apartment in our hometown, where there are 3.5 million people living right now.
You carry out electricity cuts in the city according to a set schedule – people have electricity for a few hours, then no electricity for a while. Are all residents of Kyiv affected by this schedule?
Yes. Two weeks ago, we had almost no electricity in our hometown. The next day after Russia’s attack, we had a deficit of 70 percent. Right now, we have a deficit of around 20 percent in our hometown. It means that we switch it off for some period of time in one district to give it to another one. We have a schedule where people see when they won’t have electricity, and they can plan when to use electrical appliances in their apartments.
Russians want to destroy our system. It’s freezing cold right now, which means that if we don’t have electricity, heating, and water, it would be a huge catastrophe. In this case, for example, we would have to drain the water from the pipes in the apartment blocks because if we didn’t do that, the freezing water could destroy the pipes in the buildings. If it continues to be this cold outside, it might become impossible to live in the apartments because they would be as cold as the weather outside.
There are also some discussions about evacuation from the city. Is this option on the table?
We don’t want to evacuate but, if necessary, we would have to relocate people from the city to some villages where they could have heating and water. Nobody wants to leave the country, and that’s why we’re ready to help and provide services to the people.
Are you planning to provide housing for people outside of the city?
Yes. We’re asking people to share their homes with people who need help.
Recently, "invincibility centres" have been opened in different places in Ukraine. How many such centres are already operating in Kyiv?
We have 500 such centres [in Kyiv]. But to be honest, it’s not enough, 5,000 will be not enough, and 50,000 will be not enough because there are 3.5 million people living in Kyiv. That’s why air defence is very important to our hometown. It’s a question of survival. But everyone must calculate what they’d do in an emergency. Every single one of our citizens needs a plan. That’s why we’re asking people to have reserve water, food, and warm clothes. We’re living in a war situation, and everyone is responsible for their lives and the lives of their families. We’ve also printed out instructions on what people must do in an emergency when there is no telephone connection. We distribute these instructions to everyone.
Do you think the summertime was used well to prepare for winter and such Russian attacks?
First of all, we were not prepared for the war. Honestly, we’ve never expected that in modern times, in the middle of Europe, it would be possible to wage one of the biggest wars after the Second World War. We listened [to the warnings] but we didn’t believe that it was possible. 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.
In Kyiv, Russian missiles and artillery have destroyed 670 buildings, including 350 apartment buildings, and 152 people, including four children, were killed. It’s terrorism. There is no other word for it. In the summertime, we didn’t expect that the Russians would destroy our critical infrastructure because it’s against humanitarian law. But today, we see the real face of Russian aggressors.
How has the situation in Kyiv changed after February 24? How many internally displaced people have come to Kyiv?
We have almost 300,000 internally displaced people in Kyiv. It’s a big number, and everyone needs a job, social support. We try to integrate these people into our hometown. 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. Most of the refugees arrived in Kyiv from Mariupol, from Eastern or Southern Ukrainian cities that were completely destroyed.
Talking about the help from your partners, what kind of support do you expect from countries like Lithuania?
First, I want to thank all friends of Ukraine. Unity around Ukraine is the key to freedom and peace in Europe. We’re grateful for the humanitarian, political, and economic assistance. We’re grateful for the weapons that we use to defend our homes. Without your help, we wouldn’t survive, and that’s why we’ll never forget the help of our friends.
Some people see the war as being far away from them. It’s the biggest mistake because the war touches everyone. That’s why we must do everything we can to bring peace back to Europe. Ukraine is the largest country in Europe, and stability in Ukraine can bring stability to the whole region.
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