Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has said a grim winter lies ahead for the Ukrainian capital's 3 million inhabitants, due to the damages inflicted on the country's energy infrastructure by Russian shelling.
"This is the worst winter since World War II," Klitschko told Germany's Bild tabloid in comments to be published on Wednesday.
The city had to be prepared for the "worst case scenario" of widespread power cuts at low temperatures, in which case parts of the population would have to be evacuated, the Kyiv mayor said, adding: "But we don't want it to come to that!"
Klitschko accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying to drive people out of Kyiv with attacks on civilian infrastructure.
"Putin wants to terrorize people, make them freeze, without light," to put pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Klitschko said. "But that won't happen. My impression is: people will only get angrier, and more determined. We will not die or flee as Putin wants."
He asked Germany to urgently send generators, protective clothing, and humanitarian goods in addition to weapons for defense.
