Over half a million left Kyiv in January amid Russia's energy blitz, mayor Klitschko says

Editor's note: Reporting on the Kyiv City Military Administration's denial of Mayor Vitali Klitschko's claims has been added.

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.

Meanwhile, Kyiv's Military Administration did not confirm the mayor's claims that 600,000 residents left the city.

"Such information has not been confirmed by any unit of the Kyiv City Military Administration, and now, if such a number of subscribers who are provided with electricity services had left, then, probably, the electricity situation would not be so critical," Military Administration Spokeperson Kateryna Pop later told the media.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Jan. 21 that almost 60% of Kyiv had no electricity as of the morning. Kyiv, Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, and Dnipro, and their surrounding regions are enduring the "most difficult" situation, he added.

"Repair crews and the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (DSNS), employees of energy companies, and municipal services are working at full capacity," Zelensky said in a Telegram post.

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.

Ukrenergo 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.