The Mayor of Kyiv, Vitaliy Klychko, sharply reacted to the remarks made by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky regarding the insufficient work of the capital’s authorities during the energy crisis caused by massive Russian shelling that disabled Kyiv’s thermal power plants.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Klychko Defends the Work of Kyiv’s Utility Services
According to Vitaliy Klychko, the president’s comments about the “lack of intensity” in the actions of the city authorities during the emergency undermine the trust in the selfless work of many specialists. The mayor emphasized that thousands of people, who work unarmed, do everything possible every day to assist the residents of Kyiv.
“What ‘intensity’ in the work in Kyiv during the emergency does the president not see, particularly in recent days, as he stated? (…) Such statements primarily diminish the selfless work of thousands of people, specialists. Although they do not have weapons in their hands, with their tireless efforts, they too are fighting for their country.”
Klychko provided statistics regarding the elimination of the consequences of the devastating strike on January 9: at that time, six thousand houses were left without heat, and within a few days, this number was reduced to about 400. The mayor emphasized that energy workers are working around the clock to at least partially restore electricity supply for the capital’s residents.
Zelensky and Shmyhal on the State of Kyiv’s Preparedness
President Volodymyr Zelensky, in his video address, stated that he, along with the newly appointed Minister of Energy Denys Shmyhal, analyzed the situation in several cities, including Kyiv, where, according to him, “significantly less has been done than necessary, and even now there is no visible proper intensity of actions.”
Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal also noted in the Verkhovna Rada that the capital “was prepared much weaker, and in fact, not prepared at all,” which is why crisis measures are currently necessary.
This is already the second instance in which President Zelensky publicly draws attention to the work of the Kyiv authorities in the energy sector. On January 9, the day of another powerful Russian shelling, he emphasized the need to address problems rather than ignore them, highlighting that Kyiv has sufficient resources and should have all backup energy supply schemes.
Recently, the situation with energy supply in Kyiv and the suburbs, particularly in Brovary and Boryspil, remains extremely challenging. Following the attack by Russian troops on January 9, emergency power and heating outages continue in the city. According to Klychko, this attack was the most painful for the capital’s infrastructure throughout the war. On the morning of January 9, over 500,000 consumers in Kyiv and the region were left without electricity.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia in February 2022, Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has been systematically subjected to shelling. Since the fall of 2025, the attacks have become even more intense: according to the Ministry of Energy, since the beginning of last year, Russian troops have attacked the country’s energy facilities over 4,500 times.