600,000 people leave Kyiv in January amid Russia's energy blitz, mayor Klitschko says
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 600,000 people have left the capital in January following a series of Russian attacks that led to severe power outages and the lack of heating in many homes under subzero temperatures, the Times reported on Jan. 20.
Home to over 3 million people, Kyiv is struggling to restore power, heating, and water as Russian missiles and drones continue to target the city's critical infrastructure, as Ukrainian air defenses are strained.
Klitschko's press service told the Kyiv Independent that the 600,000 number was calculated from mobile phone billing data.
The report comes nearly two weeks after Klitschko urged residents on Jan. 9 to "temporarily leave the city" if there is a possibility. The evacuation recommendation came after the Jan. 9 overnight attack left about 6,000 apartment buildings across Kyiv, nearly half of the city's total, without heating as temperatures dropped below -10°C (14°F).
Klitschko said on Jan. 21 that 4,000 of the 5,635 high-rise apartment buildings, which were left without heating after yet another Russian attack on Jan. 20, were still without heating.
"The situation is difficult because most of these buildings are being reconnected for the second time following damage to critical infrastructure on Jan. 9," Klitschko said in a Jan. 21 Telegram post.
Zelensky declared a state of emergency in the energy sector on Jan. 14 as Russia escalated its energy blitz, in an apparent attempt to lower Ukrainians' morale in the freezing capital nearly four years into the full-scale war.
Ukraine's state-owned energy grid operator Ukrenergo reported on Jan. 21 that the energy situation in Kyiv and its surrounding region remains difficult, and that scheduled power cuts will continue nationwide.
It added that Russian attacks overnight and in the morning hit energy facilities in several regions, causing outages in Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, and Kharkiv oblasts. The situation in Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast also remained difficult after the previous mass attack, it said, adding that emergency repairs were underway where security conditions allowed.
