Kyiv mayor says 'apocalypse' scenario possible this winter, but urges no to panic

Record ID: 1701402

  • Title: Kyiv mayor says 'apocalypse' scenario possible this winter, but urges no to panic
  • Date: 7th December 2022
  • Summary: KYIV, UKRAINE (DECEMBER 7, 2022) (REUTERS) VITALIY KLITSCHKO, KYIV MAYOR, DURING AN INTERVIEW WITH REUTERS JOURNALIST KLITSCHKO USING PHONE (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) KYIV MAYOR, VITALIY KLITSCHKO, SAYING: “Kyiv might lose power, water, and heat supply. The apocalypse might happen, like in scary Hollywood films, when it's not possible to live in homes considering the low temperature. But we are fighting and doing everything we can to make sure that this does not happen. We are fighting! We are not giving up!” KLITSCHKO’S HANDS (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) KYIV MAYOR, VITALIY KLITSCHKO, SAYING: “There are 3.6 million people in Kyiv. We have prepared nearly 500 autonomous heating points at present, where there is water, power generators, means of communications, but for a city of three million, 500 points is nothing.” WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) KYIV MAYOR, VITALIY KLITSCHKO, SAYING: “Thousands, tens of thousands (Power generators and industrial heat fans). I can’t give you an exact number, but the need is quite high. I am talking exclusively about Kyiv. I am not talking about Ukraine. Concerning other cities, towns, and villages: the problem is quite high.” WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) KYIV MAYOR, VITALIY KLITSCHKO, SAYING: “There is a deficit. We require industrial heat fans; we require power generators. We need help in many areas that could strengthen us to get through this difficult winter, the most difficult time since the Independence.” WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) KYIV MAYOR, VITALIY KLITSCHKO, SAYING: “We are prepared for various scenarios. But I ask Kyiv residents to also prepare for various scenarios and be ready. I say to them: ‘Please, prepare the supply of drinking water, technical water, warm clothes, food – you must have it ready.’ One must prepare a bag with documents and key needed things, preferably a small one, for an emergency.” FLAGS IN KLITSCHKO’S OFFICE (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) KYIV MAYOR, VITALIY KLITSCHKO, SAYING: “If electricity supply continues to be absent while outside temperatures remain low, we will, unfortunately, be forced to drain water from buildings. Otherwise, the water can freeze and break the entire water supply network, and buildings will then be totally unfit for further use.” SOUVENIRS, BOOKS, AND RELIGIOUS ICON ON SHELF IN KLITSCHKO’S OFFICE (SOUNDBITE) (English) KYIV MAYOR, VITALIY KLITSCHKO, SAYING: “It would actually be impossible to live in such apartments and buildings. That would mean we would ask everyone to find buildings in villages around our hometown where the people could spend a couple of weeks’ time before we fix all the problems in our hometown.” WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) KYIV MAYOR, VITALIY KLITSCHKO, SAYING: “At the moment in Kyiv there is heating and power supply, but not everywhere. The deficit (of electricity) in Kyiv is 20% at the moment and the temporary power cuts are still in place. Nevertheless, thanks to our utility services workers… No, first of all – thanks to our air defences and our Armed Forces! Thanks to our communal services which renewed the life support of our city in a very short period of time, everything works and there is no such need (to evacuate the city). But nevertheless, one must necessarily be prepared for various scenarios.” WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) KYIV MAYOR, VITALIY KLITSCHKO, SAYING: "It looks strange when we are united against a single enemy, but we start to fight within the country. Our foreign partners say 'you have a common enemy, but you cannot work things out among yourselves.'" WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) KYIV MAYOR, VITALIY KLITSCHKO, SAYING: "I am convinced that politics is behind this because representatives of one political group began to run around trying to find faults (in Kyiv)." KLITSCHKO DURING AN INTERVIEW WITH REUTERS JOURNALIST
  • Embargoed: 21st December 2022 17:38
  • Keywords: Kyiv mayor Power cuts Russian invasion War in Ukraine Winter
  • Location: KYIV, UKRAINE
  • City: KYIV, UKRAINE
  • Country: Ukraine
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Europe,Military Conflicts
  • Reuters ID: LVA001511007122022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: VIDEO OF WINTER KYIV IS IN EDIT '5067 UKRAINE-CRISIS/KYIV-WINTER'
    Kyiv's mayor warned on Wednesday (December 7) of an "apocalypse" scenario for the Ukrainian capital this winter if Russian air strikes on infrastructure continue, but said there was no need for residents to evacuate now, though they should be ready to do so.
    "Kyiv might lose power, water, and heat supply. The apocalypse might happen, like in Hollywood films, when it's not possible to live in homes considering the low temperature," Mayor Vitali Klitschko told Reuters in an interview.
    "But we are fighting and doing everything we can to make sure that this does not happen," the former boxer went on to say, raising his booming voice to drive the point home.
    Even so, the picture is bleak: the capital lacks enough heated shelters to take in all 3.6 million residents in the event of complete outages and people should be ready to evacuate if the situation worsens, Klitschko said.
    "We have prepared nearly 500 autonomous heating hubs at present... but for a city of 3 million, 500 points is nothing," he said.
    Klitschko, a former world heavyweight boxing champion before entering politics, painted a picture of a harsh future ahead for Ukraine's more than 1,500-year-old capital.
    He sketched out one possible scenario in which the city could be left without central heating until spring at a time when temperatures can fall as low as -15 degrees Celsius (5 degrees Fahrenheit).
    "If electricity supply continues to be absent while outside temperatures remain low, we will, unfortunately, be forced to drain water from buildings," he said.
    "Otherwise the water can freeze and break the entire water supply network, and buildings will then be totally unfit for further use."
    Klitschko urged residents to prepare emergency supplies of food and water, as well as to have clothes and documents ready for a quick departure if the heating supply is turned off.
    However, he said there was presently no need to evacuate as the city only had a 20% power deficit and conditions remained stable.
    Klitschko dismissed criticism last week by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy about preparations for winter, saying he believed it was driven by politics and that it looked "strange" to foreign governments that are supporting Ukraine.
    “Our foreign partners say 'you have a common enemy, but you cannot work things out among yourselves,’” he said.
    Klitschko, now in his ninth year as mayor, was seen as one of Zelenskiy's highest-profile political opponents before the Russian invasion.
    "I am convinced that politics is behind this because representatives of one political group began to run around trying to find faults (in Kyiv)," Klitschko said.
    (Production: Yurii Muraviov, Andrii Pryimachenko)
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