By Max Hunder
KYIV (Reuters) – Kyiv’s mayor warned on Wednesday of an “apocalypse” scenario for the Ukrainian capital this winter if Russian air strikes on infrastructure continue but said there was no need for residents to evacuate now, though they should be ready to do so.
“Kyiv might lose power, water, and heat supply. The apocalypse might happen, like in Hollywood films, when it’s not possible to live in homes considering the low temperature,” Mayor Vitali Klitschko told Reuters in an interview.
“But we are fighting and doing everything we can to make sure that this does not happen,” the former boxer went on to say, raising his booming voice to drive the point home.
Even so, the picture is bleak: the capital lacks enough heated shelters to take in all 3.6 million residents in the event of completes outages and people should be ready to evacuate if the situation worsens, Klitschko said.
“We have prepared nearly 500 autonomous heating hubs at present… but for a city of 3 million, 500 points is nothing,” he said.
Klitschko, a former world heavyweight boxing champion before entering politics, painted a picture of a harsh future ahead for Ukraine’s more than 1,500-year-old capital.
He sketched out one possible scenario in which the city could be left without central heating until spring at a time when temperatures can fall as low as -15 degrees Celsius (5 degrees Fahrenheit).
“If electricity supply continues to be absent while outside temperatures remain low, we will unfortunately be forced to drain water from buildings,” he said.
“Otherwise the water can freeze and break the entire water supply network, and buildings will then be totally unfit for further use.”
Klitschko urged residents to prepare emergency supplies of food and water, as well as to have clothes and documents ready for a quick departure if the heating supply is turned off.
However, he said there was presently no need to evacuate as the city only had a 20% power deficit and conditions remained stable.
(Reporting by Max Hunder; editing by Tom Balmforth and Timothy Heritage)
