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Ukraine’s Capital Faces Worst Power and Heating Crisis Since Start of Russia’s Full-Scale Invasion
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![Photo of Cyril Barabaltchouk]( "Photo of Cyril Barabaltchouk")
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Kyiv is facing an extremely difficult situation, unprecedented in scale over four years of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as the capital struggles to restore heating and electricity after recent Russian mass attacks on infrastructure, city’s Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko wrote on his official Telegram page on January 14.
Speaking during an emergency meeting of the city’s security and emergency commission, Klitschko said: “The situation in Kyiv is very difficult. There has been nothing of this scale during the four years of the full-scale war.”
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He stressed that city authorities are coordinating all departments and services to stabilize conditions and support residents.
According to Klitschko, around 400 multi-story residential buildings remain without heating, out of roughly 6,000 that lost heat supply following a large-scale Russian strike earlier this month.
“We plan to restore heating to some of these buildings by this evening,” he said, adding that municipal workers are repairing damaged infrastructure “day and night” to restore essential services.
The mayor said the situation is more stable on the right bank of the Dnipro River, while conditions remain more difficult on the left bank. Electricity supply, however, remains critical across the city. Kyiv is currently operating under emergency blackout schedules, with hourly outages suspended.
Citing energy company DTEK, Klitschko said residents have electricity for about three hours, followed by up to ten hours or more without power. “Unfortunately, emergency outages will continue. We must speak about this honestly so people understand the situation,” he said.
Klitschko also ordered the city’s more than 1,200 heating centers to operate at maximum capacity, allowing residents to warm up, charge devices, and, if necessary, stay overnight.
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Social services have been instructed to provide daily hot meals to vulnerable residents, primarily elderly people living alone and people with disabilities. Currently, food is being delivered to more than 3,000 residents, he said.
“The capital is functioning under extreme conditions and under the threat of new enemy attacks, especially on infrastructure,” Klitschko said, warning city officials that responsibility and rapid decision-making are critical. “We must keep the megacity running. And we are doing everything to achieve that.”
Previously, it was reported that during the large-scale Russian attack overnight, Russian forces deliberately targeted district boiler plants, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko reported on the same day.
She noted that Russia struck residential buildings and civilian infrastructure in Kyiv and other cities for nearly five hours. In Kyiv, some areas are experiencing power and water outages due to damage to substations, power lines, and generation facilities.
Restoration work is ongoing for more than 500,000 consumers. Emergency and scheduled outages are being implemented, with their duration also affected by falling temperatures.
