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Kiev officials in January considered evacuating people — city mayor

Vitali Klitschko said utility services staff worked round the clock to preserve city infrastructure

BERLIN, March 13. /TASS/. Kiev officials in January considered the option of evacuating the residents of the city due to power cuts, city Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in an interview published on Monday.

"In January we were very close to calling on the people to evacuate. <...> The longest blackout lasted 14 hours. There was no electricity, water, heating. Fortunately, the weather was mild," he said in the interview with RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland.

Klitschko said utility services staff worked round the clock to preserve city infrastructure. The Kiev mayor also praised the role of Germany-provided IRIS-T air defense systems in the protection of infrastructure.

Klitschko said in November that Kiev residents should move outside the city, if they have the opportunity, to homes that have stoves and water supply. He then opposed evacuating people, but said some goups of people could be temporarily relocated to the suburbs.