The war is back in Kiev. For several weeks, the Ukrainian capital has been regularly shelled by Russian troops. The goal: the destruction of the energy infrastructure. The mayor of the city, Vitali Klitschko (51) talks about the current situation in Kiev.
Blick: In Kiev there are always power and water outages. What is the current situation?
Vitaly Klitschko: Our energy systems are severely affected by the missile strikes. On Monday, 80 percent of the connections had no water. There was a power outage in about 350,000 apartments. Municipal workers have worked through the night to fix the problem, and now everyone in Kiev has water and electricity again. What Russia is doing is genocide. In winter it is very cold, we have temperatures down to minus 20 degrees. Such attacks can lead to catastrophes. The civilian population is suffering and that is why the whole world must see the results of the war.
They have asked the West to send help so that people don’t freeze to death. Do you expect cold deaths?
We calculate different scenarios. In the worst case scenario – if we have no water, electricity or heating for a long time – we have prepared more than 1000 locations where people can warm up. The Russians want to discourage us. They are not successful at the front, so they want to blackmail Ukraine. But instead of a depression, the population gets a huge anger, and that motivates us to keep fighting for our independence.
The attacks have taken place every Monday since October, when people went to work. Do you expect the so-called Black Mondays to continue?
You must ask Mr Putin this question, whether he will attack again next Monday and kill innocent people. We foresee different scenarios, but we don’t think the Russians will be successful.
Do people still dare to work?
People are nervous, but they are not afraid.
Vitali Klitschko (51) has been mayor of Kiev since 2014. Before moving into politics, Klitschko was in the ring. The former professional boxer won his first WBO world title in 1999. From 2008 he defended it until his last fight in 2012. With his party Udar, founded in 2014, he formed an opposition tripartite alliance during the Maidan protests along with the nationalist Svoboda party and the “Fatherland”, which called for the resignation of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych (72).
Is an evacuation of the city of Kiev planned?
Evacuating people would be the worst case scenario. We hope we don’t have to realize this plan. But we are certainly ready.
Could it be that people have to leave the country because of the crisis in basic services?
People don’t have to leave the country. We have everything under control.
How do you personally handle the situation?
It is very important to stay here and protect the city. We are strong in our faith. We see Ukraine as a modern, democratic and European country. Putin does not accept this, he sees Ukraine as part of the Russian Empire. We used to be part of the empire, but we don’t want to go back in time. We see our future as part of the European family. The Russians fight for the money, we fight for our children.