Vitali Klitschko faces growing backlash in Kyiv over winter preparations

Public discontent with Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has intensified, with demonstrators calling for his resignation and renewed public debate over the capital’s winter preparations. The tensions come as the city continues to endure Russian air strikes and repeated power and water interruptions ahead of the heating season.

On Saturday protesters gathered outside Kyiv City Hall, chanting “Kyiv without Klitschko” and listing grievances that include disruptions on the streets and public transport, opaque major construction projects, and recurring corruption scandals in the mayor’s circle. Many residents say services have deteriorated under Klitschko’s long tenure.

“We are dissatisfied with the way he performs his duties. At the moment the situation is particularly acute, but, in fact, the results of his work over the past twelve years have generally been poor,” said Vira, one of the participants who appeared at the demonstration.

Dispute with the president and the wartime context

President Volodymyr Zelensky has publicly criticised Klitschko’s handling of winter preparedness, accusing the city leadership of failing to protect essential services. Klitschko rejected those accusations before parliament last week and placed part of the blame on the national government.

“As a city administration, we are doing everything in our power to ensure the city's functioning, despite the attacks with which Zelensky's government is constantly trying to weaken us,” Klitschko said.

Analyst Volodymyr Fesenko described the situation as a matter of poor management. He questioned why large-scale roadworks and other peacetime-priority projects are proceeding at full speed during wartime, and noted that people resent perceived profits from such contracts when funds, critics argue, should instead strengthen shelters, critical infrastructure, drones and emergency generators.

Former Ukrenergo transmission chief Volodymyr Kudrytsky warned that many critical facilities across Ukraine lack sufficient backup power. “That means that most critical infrastructure facilities, in the event of a disruption of local electricity supply, would simply stop functioning,” he said. Kudrytsky added that rebuilding damaged plants is not enough: new, decentralised generation capacity is needed to better withstand further attacks.

Residents who endured last winter’s outages recalled days without heating and long, scheduled windows for water and electricity while relying on generators. With fresh strikes bringing new interruptions, many say their worries about the coming cold season have only grown.

Photo: press material from the event