The mayor of the Ukrainian capital, kyiv, Vitaly Klitschko, warned on Wednesday that “the apocalypse could happen” in the city this winter, during an interview with Reuters. He fears cuts in water, electricity or even heating due to the ongoing war with Russia, and does not rule out an evacuation of the population.
“kyiv could lose its electricity, water and heat supply. The apocalypse could happen, just like in Hollywood movies,” he explained. “We are fighting and doing everything we can to make sure this doesn’t happen.”
Insufficient heaters for the 3 million inhabitants
With the arrival of winter in Ukraine and therefore the cold, power cuts caused by strikes make life even more difficult. In kyiv, temperatures are already around freezing right now, but they can drop to -15°C.
And Vitaly Klitschko explains that kyiv has only 500 autonomous heating centers for the 3.6 million inhabitants that still exist in the city, an insufficient figure according to the city councilor. Therefore, in the event of a blackout, a part of the population must be ready to evacuate.
Several Ukrainian cities suffered further power and water cuts on Monday after the Russian attacks. In Kryvyi Rih, in central Ukraine, “part of the city is without electricity, several boilers and pumping stations are offline,” local authorities explained.
In Odessa, a major port in the south of the country, “all pumping stations and reserve lines have lost their power supply,” causing a “lack of water supply everywhere,” operator Infoksvodokanal also announced.
According to Vitaly Klitschko, 152 civilians have been killed in kyiv since the start of the invasion and 678 buildings have been destroyed.
Source: BFM TV
