Klitschko summoned to the Verkhovna Rada, and people gather for a rally over Kyivʼs preparations for winter. He spoke about pressure and “baseless accusations”

The MPs summoned Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko to the Verkhovna Rada amid accusations of poor preparation of the capital for the heating season.

151 MPs voted for this at a parliamentary session on October 13.

The MP Maryana Bezuhla clarified that Klitschko was summoned for Wednesday, October 14. He has not yet confirmed whether he plans to appear.

However, in a comment to hromadske, the mayor stated that Kyiv is fully prepared for the heating season, and called the accusations of poor preparation "baseless".

"The city is prepared for the heating season, as far as central heating is concerned. The central heating and our thermal power plants (TPPs) were the target of shelling. Everything there resembles the landscape of the Moon, everything was like in craters. We restored it, and the city is ready for the heating season," Klitschko said.

Regarding his advice to residents to leave the city, Klitschko emphasized that he was not calling for a complete evacuation, but rather advised having a backup plan in case of a critical situation.

"We constantly provide information on preparation. But the consequences of the shelling and the fact that the power goes out, the infrastructure is destroyed... The mayor is not responsible for air defense," says Klitschko.

He separately noted that they are allegedly trying to destroy local self-government — and not only in Kyiv — by removing community heads for "far-fetched reasons" and appointing heads of military administrations in their place.

"Well, itʼs an attempt to move Klitschko and appoint someone from above. The people elected me, and I will fulfill my obligations and do everything possible and impossible to justify the trust of the community. The next elections may determine how much I will be able to justify the trust," the mayor added.

• On October 9, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Kyiv city government had almost completely failed to implement the necessary steps for the “resilience plan” amid increased Russian shelling of the energy sector.
• On October 17, a rally was reported in Kyiv demanding the resignation of Mayor Klitschko.

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