Klitschko urges European support, defends Kyiv’s winter response amid intensified Russian strikes
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said European backing remains “critically important” as Ukraine fights what he called a “senseless war” with Russia, urging allies to sustain support while defending his administration’s preparations for winter under relentless missile barrages.
- Advertisement -
“We Ukrainians want to [be] part of the European family. We want to build a democratic country,” Klitschko told RTÉ’s News at One. He cast Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war aims as imperial, saying Putin “disagreed” with Ukraine’s sovereignty, believing “Ukraine was never independent” and “belonged to the Russian empire.” “The reason for this war,” Klitschko added, is that Putin “wants to rebuild the Soviet Union.”
His comments came as Kyiv endures subzero temperatures and rolling outages after waves of strikes targeting energy facilities. Klitschko said the capital’s authorities have pushed to keep basic services going but cannot stop the attacks that are crippling power supplies across the country.
“We prepare for the winter, we are ready to give the services to our citizens, but we are not responsible for air defence,” he said, noting that air defense is outside the city’s remit. “We have a huge problem right now — not just in Kyiv but in the whole of Ukraine — a huge deficit of energy, of electricity,” he said, adding, “that is why we depend on air defence.”
The former heavyweight boxing champion pushed back against criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of Kyiv’s winter readiness, saying local authorities have worked to provide heating and electricity where possible but are contending with consequences of repeated missile strikes. “We can prepare for the winter pretty well, but Russia’s missiles destroy our critical infrastructure,” he said.
Klitschko’s appeal to Europe underscored Kyiv’s reliance on continued political, financial and military support as the war grinds on. He framed the conflict as a test of Ukraine’s democratic aspirations and Europe’s resolve, linking battlefield resilience and urban survival to sustained Western assistance — especially systems that can help keep the lights on and the heat running by protecting power plants and grids.
Residents of the capital have faced stretches without heat and electricity as emergency crews race to repair damaged substations and lines. City officials have opened warming points and urged conservation, while warning that additional strikes could trigger more prolonged outages. Klitschko said those realities are shaped not by municipal planning but by whether incoming missiles are intercepted before they hit.
“We are ready to serve our citizens,” he said, but stressed the city’s dependence on national and allied air defense to blunt attacks that degrade the grid faster than it can be restored. He argued that Ukraine’s path “to the European family” requires both internal resolve and external support to withstand a campaign aimed at sapping public morale and disabling critical infrastructure.
Klitschko did not offer timelines for stabilizing power supplies, instead emphasizing that the pace of recovery hinges on the scale of future strikes and the strength of defenses guarding the skies over the capital and the rest of the country.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
