Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine nine months ago, a silent truce has been in place in Kiev. As long as the army of Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin (70) is in the country, internal political divisions must fade into the background and remain. But now this consensus has been canceled – precisely by President Volodymyr Zelensky (44). The ex-actor publicly reprimanded the Kiev city council led by mayor Vitali Klitschko (51), who has also been very prominent in Germany since his boxing career.
This was preceded by another Russian missile strike on the capital’s power supply and elsewhere. This led to massive power outages almost everywhere in Ukraine, which are only slowly being rectified. However, Zelenskiy only chose the capital for public scolding. “Many residents of Kiev were without electricity for more than 20 or even 30 hours,” the head of state complained via video. He expects a better job from City Hall. He didn’t name any. It also became clear who he meant: Klitschko.
After a few days, 600,000 households in the capital were still without power, Selenski said at the performance on Friday evening. In the black hoodie, he referenced a project he personally announced, the “Points of Invincibility”. At these points in the city, everyone should be able to heat themselves and provide themselves with electricity and internet. “In fact, only those points set up by civil defense and on the station are normally equipped,” Selenski said. The rest are in a sorry state.
Klitschko appeals to the people of Kiev
To back up his statement, his party’s deputy sent “servants of the people” to check the heating points. Group leader David Arachamija (43) later reported that more than 360 warming points had been checked. In schools and kindergartens, employees brought tea and cakes at their own expense. “But the city government has only passed the crash test with ‘poor’ and has not reached any conclusions so far.” At the same time, Arakhamija praised the management of Ukrainian railways: “They have 200 ‘cars of invincibility’ and a whole fortress”, referring to the central station in Kiev.
Because Klitschko has limited opportunities to defend himself in the media in Ukraine, the former world boxing champion used his contacts abroad. In the face of the Russian invasion, the mayor of Kiev once again called on his compatriots to unite in the “Bild am Sonntag”. “We must continue to work together to defend the country and protect infrastructure.” Klitschko assured that the city had water and heating again. Now it’s time to restore power.
The former white-helmet boxer turned up in one of Kiev’s thermal power plants. He shook hands in front of Soviet luminaries and thanked the employees of the Kyivteploenerho company. “More than 3,000 people worked day and night, so we can say that almost 98 percent of the houses in our city have district heating,” said Klitschko. At the same time, however, the mayor admitted that a good quarter of Kiev residents would be without electricity.
On Sunday morning, the redeeming news came from the military administration of Kiev: electricity has been restored almost everywhere in the city, which has a population of three million. Water, heat and the mobile network have also been almost completely restored.
Selenski wants to eliminate Klitschko before elections
It is not the first time that Selenski and his government have used heavy artillery against Klitschko. After Selenski took office in 2019, the then head of the presidential office, Andriy Bohdan (45), called for the resignation of the capital’s mayor, who has been in office since 2014. “He is in control of the situation in the city lost in the past five years,” Bohdan said at the time.
At that point, it was almost agreed that Selenski would at least cool Klitschko. The office of elected mayor should be separated from the office of head of the city government. Klitschko would have become a kind of greeting August. But it turned out differently. According to media reports, Klitschko managed to avoid demotion through contacts with Selenski’s confidante Andriy Yermak (51). Ermak is now in charge of the President’s Office.
According to some observers, Selenski now seems to want to make a second attempt to eliminate Klitschko as a potential opponent in the upcoming presidential election in 2024. Only: Until then, it is important to end the war. And on the other hand to survive the war. (SDA/chs)