Kyiv mayor urges residents of Ukrainian capital to be prepared for blackouts until spring

The mayor of Ukraine's capital Kyiv has urged residents to be prepared for blackouts until spring.

"We are trying to restore everything as quickly as possible, switch to clear schedules so that there are no surprises, and then switch to an uninterrupted supply of electricity. But we must be prepared for the fact that there may be outages before spring," Vitali Klitschko told RBK-Ukraine news agency on Monday.

Klitschko said issues related to electricity are also connected to cold weather, where many people consume more electricity through heating devices, thus creating a greater load on the country's energy system.

Concerning speculations that there are plans to evacuate Kyiv due to Russian strikes, Klitschko said it would be a "big mistake" if they did not prepare for different scenarios.

"If a year ago, this time in December, someone would have started talking about what would happen in the future -- about people being murdered, about war, about rape, about genocide -- he would not be called a sane person. But today, unfortunately, this is a terrible, harsh reality. We don't want to keep anyone in a warm bath, but we don't want to scare them either," Klitschko further said.

He added that there will not be a complete evacuation of the city, but did not rule out the possibility of a partial evacuation.

"This is a temporary relocation of certain categories of people to the suburbs, where services may be available," he said, responding with a "no" to a question on possible relocations to other regions or abroad.

Klitschko said "Russian President Vladimir Putin's desire" and goal is to destroy Ukraine's energy system.

"For him (Putin), the best scenario would be for us all to take our bags and go somewhere, leave the country, go to the West, and he would enter our homes without obstacles and take our places, our country. This is his dream," Klitschko said.

Klitschko said there is a possibility of Russia trying to take Kyiv as it is "the heart of the country" and "was and remains the target of the aggressor."

"I really hope, and we are doing everything so, that we celebrate the next New Year in a peaceful Ukraine freed from the aggressor," Klitschko concluded.