Selenskyj attacks Klitschko “Enough screaming” – dispute between Putin’s warlords escalates

After the recent Russian missile attacks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sharply criticized the political leaders in Kiev: “As if the enemies in Russia were not enough, people are looking for internal enemies. Let me put it this way: a knock- be out,” Zelenskyj told reporters on Friday.

It is easy to guess who Selenskyj is referring to: former boxing champion and current Kiev mayor Vitali Klitschko. It is not the first time that the president has openly addressed the mayor of the capital. However, the threat of a “knockout” is remarkably sharp.

Although the Kremlin is responsible for the ongoing rocket terror against the neighboring country, there is now also criticism of the Ukrainian authorities. A 34-year-old mother and her nine-year-old child were also killed in the rocket attacks on Kiev on Thursday, apparently because they were standing in front of a closed air raid shelter. In his evening video message on Friday, Zelenskyj lamented the ongoing problems with the capital’s bomb shelters.

Civilians complained that there were too few bunkers and some were locked, Zelenskyj said. In some parts of the city there are no emergency shelters, the situation is unbearable. “This level of negligence in the city cannot be covered by any justification.” The president announced that he would see the situation with his own eyes. “We will carefully investigate the incident.”

Shortly afterwards, the mayor of Kiev defended himself against the allegations and referred to the military administration of the capital, which was appointed by the president: “This is about shared and fair responsibility,” Vitali Klitschko told the “Bild”. He had stressed to district managers that he would not tolerate “sabotage”.

“The districts of the capital are not separate principalities where you can wear white gloves and neglect your duties. They are representatives of the capital’s authorities,” Klitschko said.

This isn’t the first time Selenskyj and Klitschko have squabbled in public. Last December, the president attacked the mayor for not having enough emergency shelters in the capital for people without electricity or heating. Political observers suspect that Zelenskyj wants to harm a possible competitor in the next presidential election.

“It looks like they have [Selenskyjs Team] just waiting for this opportunity,” says the editor-in-chief of the Ukrainian news portal “New Voice of Ukraine”, Vitaly Sych. There are rumors of a rivalry between Selenskyj and Klitschko, “who is a very popular character.”

“In my opinion, now is not the time for such politically motivated attacks – during a war,” Sych said.

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