Anger over winter planning: Protesters demand Klitschko’s resignation
Residents protested outside Kyiv City Council against power outages, water problems and a lack of shelters. Klitschko blames the central government.
Archive image · Photo: Київська міська державна адміністрація Київська міська рада / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Citizens outside Kyiv City Council on Saturday demanded the resignation of Mayor Vitali Klitschko, who has been in office since 2014. The organizers criticized the city’s security, public transportation, corruption, handling of cultural heritage and finances. Since Russia resumed its attacks on the energy supply at the end of September, Kyiv has again experienced power and water outages. Serhiy Horkuzenko of the water utility Kyivvodokanal said the entire electrical system of the water supply dates from the 1970s.
According to the Finance Ministry, Kyiv was allocated more than $2.3 billion for winter preparations in 2026, but only 51.1% had been spent by Sept. 1. In September, Klitschko announced 40 to 50 mobile shelters at transit stops; the first and so far only one was installed on Oct. 15. President Zelenskyy said on Oct. 13 that almost all other regions were implementing protection plans better than the capital.
Klitschko rejected the criticism on Oct. 14, asking: “Where is the capital’s air defense?” Kyiv’s power grid had been hit almost 50 times this year, he said. The elected mayor cannot be removed from office; however, Zelenskyy could strip him of the leadership of the city administration.