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Kiev mayor warns residents power outages may last until spring

According to Vitaly Klichko, 430 heating locations are currently available in Kiev

KIEV, November 28. /TASS/. Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klichko has called on residents of the Ukrainian capital to be ready for continued blackouts until next spring and did not rule out a partial evacuation, according to his interview with RBC-Ukraine, published on Monday.

"We should be ready for blackouts to last till spring. This, among other things, has to do with low temperatures, since many people have heat-generating appliances, and some have heated floors. People tend to use more electricity during the cold season, so there is a bigger load on the grid system," the Kiev mayor explained.

Klichko also said that a partial evacuation was likely. "We should be ready for various developments, including bad ones. Each of us has a game plan for such a case, even if there is an evacuation. I cannot rule out a worst-case scenario. There won’t be any total evacuation, but a partial one instead, but then it cannot be called an evacuation. Some categories of people will temporarily relocate outside the city to where there could be services," he specified. The mayor effectively suggested again that those who can move to their countryside houses "where there is water and a stove" should do so.

According to Klichko, 430 heating locations are currently available in Kiev. He also slammed efforts to politicize the issue referring to posts by ruling party members who claim the situation is dire. This, he said, "looks weird both to citizens of Kiev and our foreign partners." Commenting on the number of people currently residing in the city, he said there were some 3.35 million residents, "based on the number of smartphones."

At present, emergency power outages are still being reported in Kiev, despite promises from officials to restore critical infrastructure soon.