Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said the city budgets are being redirected to backup power sources for water supply and drainage systems on Thursday.
The comment amid Russia’s intensifying strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid, which led to blackouts and subsequently disruptions to pumps powering the water systems, with hot water supplies also disrupted on Wednesday following another major strike.
Klitschko wrote in a Telegram update that Kyiv is facing “the most difficult heating season in all the years of the full-scale war.”
He said repair work has been ongoing after multiple attacks, adding that it was carried out “on our own” before adding that it is “not time for political statements” – a subtle jab at the government amid longstanding tensions between the two sides.
In a subsequent update, Klitschko said Kyiv is “[redistributing] funds from other planned items” for the “reconstruction of the water drainage and water supply system by introducing alternative and/or backup power sources.”
Klitschko then called on the parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, to redirect funds that he said were “cynically taken from the capital” back to the city budget to bolster air defense and protect energy and transport infrastructure in the capital.
“The Kyiv City Council should also adopt an appeal to the Verkhovna Rada to increase spending on strengthening Kyiv’s defense capabilities,” he wrote.
Recent Russian attacks have also targeted Ukraine’s gas storage and production facilities ahead of the heating season, slashing the country’s production by over half as of early October.
However, the Ministry of Energy wrote on Thursday that “The heating season in Ukraine will begin as planned,” clarifying that it does not officially start on Nov. 1 as some outlets claimed, and instead is a decision by local administration when the temperature dips below 8°C (46.4°F) for over three days.
Previously, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine has two alternatives to cope with the gas shortage – relying more on domestic production or securing the funds to increase imports, according to UNN.