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Ukraine’s Kyiv mayor rebuffs Zelenskyy criticism amid energy woes

The energy deprivation facing Ukrainians has renewed tensions between Ukraine’s president and Kyiv’s mayor amid a looming power crisis and the winter period setting in.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko on Sunday defended himself against allegations levelled by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that too many Kyiv residents were still without power and that centres that had been set up for them to stock up on food, water, battery power and other essentials were insufficient.

Klitschko wrote on Telegram that hundreds of such centres are in operation, as well as hundreds of emergency generators, adding that “I do not want, especially in the current situation, to enter into political battles. It’s ridiculous.”

Klitschko, who had been mired in several disputes with Zelenskyy before the invasion, said the president’s allies had engaged in “manipulation” about the city’s efforts, including “incomprehensible photos” posted online.

Local residents shovel snow as a work of world-renowned graffiti artist Banksy is displayed on the wall (L) of a destroyed building in the Ukrainian village of Horenka, which was heavily damaged by fighting in the early days of the Russian invasion, November 19, 2022.
Local residents shovel snow as a work of world-renowned graffiti artist Banksy is displayed on the wall of a destroyed building in the Ukrainian village of Horenka 

“To put it mildly, this is not nice. Not for Ukrainians or for our foreign partners,” Klitschko said.

In his nightly video address on Friday, Zelenskyy said the Kyiv mayor had not done enough to help beleaguered residents.

“To put it mildly, more work is needed,” he added.

After a blistering series of Russian artillery strikes on infrastructure that started last month, workers were fanning out in around-the-clock deployments to restore key basic services as many Ukrainians were forced to cope with only a few hours of electricity per day – if any.

Ukrenergo, the state power grid operator, said Sunday that electricity producers are now supplying about 80 percent of demand, compared with 75 percent the previous day.

Winter impact

With persistent snowfall blanketing the capital on Sunday, analysts predicted that wintry weather – bringing with it frozen terrain and gruelling fighting conditions – could have an increasing effect on the conflict that has raged since Russian forces invaded Ukraine more than nine months ago.

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