Kyiv residents should be prepared to leave the city to avoid power outages, Mayor Vitali Klitschko has said. As Russian airstrikes target critical infrastructure, millions of Ukrainians live without electricity and water. Rolling power cuts are also in place to avoid overloads and allow for repairs. Russian attacks on power plants and lines have damaged about 40% of Ukraine's energy system.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that Russia could "concentrate forces and means for a possible replay of large-scale attacks on our infrastructure, energy in the first place." The Geneva Convention, which outlines humanitarian standards for treatment in war, states that attacks should not be carried out against "civilian objects." Speaking on Ukrainian television, Mayor Klitschko branded the targeting of Russia's infrastructure as "terrorism" and "genocide."
"We don't need Ukrainians. They need territory; they need Ukraine without us", said the former heavyweight boxer to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
So what is happening now [attack on infrastructure] is genocide. His work is for us to die, to freeze, or to make us flee our land so that He can obtain it." Another official in the capital Kyiv warned that water supply and sewerage would also stop working in the event of a total blackout. In winter in Kyiv, the average temperature is below freezing and drops even more at night. Mr. Klitschko said that while officials were doing "everything" to keep the lights on and the water flowing, he made sure preparations were in place for various scenarios.
Kyiv's three million residents must make arrangements to live with friends or relatives who live in the suburbs who still have water and electricity so that they have a plan in case a "worst case" scenario should happen if Kyiv loses supply, said the 51-year-old. He said officials are stocking up on fuel, food, and water, and residents should do the same. At least 1,000 heating shelters are being set up across the city, where people can warm up in an emergency. Russians threaten to take children away from their parents. 'We know where your family lives. Ukraine fighters face death threats online.
Kyiv's director of security, Roman Tkachuk, echoed Meyer's comments in a post on the messaging app Telegram. He stressed that city officials were making plans, but "there is no reason to talk about evacuations at the moment. "Kyiv residents have said they are aware that electricity could be lost and supplies could be scarce. One resident said he had already made plans to leave Kyiv if the situation worsened. He has stocked up on fuel, bought generators, and will move his family to his grandparents' house on the outskirts of Kyiv.
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