EVACUATION: Kiev Mayor, Former Boxer Champ Klitschko Says 600,000 Have Left Cold and Dark Ukrainian Capital in January
Kiev may soon become a ghost town.
With the relentless Russian combines drone and missile strikes, and the lack of effectiveness in Ukrainian air defense, many cities have been taken to the brink, with the destruction of power generation and the electrical grid long passing the point of no return.
Vitali Klitschko, the Ukrainian capital’s mayor and former boxing champion, has warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin is driving the city towards a ‘humanitarian catastrophe’.
The mayor again advised residents to ‘leave if they can’ as emergency crews try to restore power to the city.
The Times reported:
“Temperatures have fallen as low as minus 18C during a cold snap projected to last at least two more weeks. This month 600,000 people have already fled the capital, home to more than 3 million, Klitschko said.
‘The situation is critical with basic services — heating, water, electricity. Right now, 5,600 apartment buildings are without heating’, Klitschko told The Times. Unable to keep it at the right temperature, the authorities had been forced to drain Kiev’s large centralized heating and water system to prevent water turning to ice and bursting pipes as it expands, he added.”
“The capital had been struggling with rolling blackouts and minimal heating since an earlier Russian attack on January 9, timed for the start of the coldest winter period in more than a decade. Then, in the early hours of Tuesday, Kremlin forces launched some 470 drones, 47 cruise missiles and one ballistic missile at Ukraine. The attack reversed repairs to the energy grid carried out since the earlier strike.
In both instances Russian ballistic missiles hit a thermal power plant in Kiev, Klitschko said. ‘The Russians want to make a humanitarian catastrophe in our hometown, to make people freeze during the winter’, he said.”
Kyiv Independent reported:
“Home to over 3 million people, Kiev is struggling to restore power, heating, and water as Russian missiles and drones continue to target the city’s critical infrastructure, as Ukrainian air defenses are strained.
Klitschko’s press service told the Kiev Independent that the 600,000 number was calculated from mobile phone billing data.
The report comes nearly two weeks after Klitschko urged residents on Jan. 9 to ‘temporarily leave the city’ if there is a possibility.”
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