Power and heating crisis in Kyiv is most severe in 4 years of war, mayor says

The situation with electricity and heating supplies in the capital of Ukraine has been extremely difficult and is on a scale not seen in the 4 years of the full-scale war. The Commission on Technogenic and Environmental Safety and Emergencies (TESE Commission) is discussing further steps to stabilise services.

Source: Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko

Quote: "We are holding a meeting of the TESE Commission now. With all departments, the deputy heads of the Kyiv City State Administration, services and the heads of the city's districts.

The situation in Kyiv is very difficult. It is the first time in the 4 years of the full-scale war that Kyiv has faced disruption on this scale.

We are discussing the most urgent issues and our further response to stabilise the situation and help residents. Specific tasks and their implementation by each service and each department."

Details: Klitschko said that municipal services are working day and night to repair infrastructure damaged by Russian attacks and restore essential services.

Quote: "As of today, about 400 high-rise buildings in Kyiv remain without heating, out of the 6,000 that lost heat supply after the large-scale attack on 9 January. We plan to restore heating to some of these 400 buildings by this evening.

The heating situation on the right bank of the city is now more stable while conditions are more difficult on the left bank.

The power supply situation, which affects the delivery of municipal services, remains extremely challenging. Power engineers are working and doing everything they can. But for now, Kyiv is living under emergency power cut schedules. That means the usual hourly timetables are not in force.

Residents currently have about 3 hours of electricity and up to 10 hours, and in some places even more, without it. Power engineers say that times can change because the damaged energy system is operating in emergency conditions. Weather and network overloads also have an impact.

So unfortunately, emergency outages will continue. We have to speak honestly about this so people understand the situation."

More details: Klitschko said that he has instructed officials to ensure that warming centres operate at their maximum capacity, with more than 1,200 opened across Kyiv.

Quote: "We must ensure residents without heating in their flats have the option, if they choose, to stay overnight at these centres."

More details: The Social Policy Department of the Kyiv City State Administration and the city's district state administrations have been instructed to provide one hot meal a day to residents registered with district territorial centres. These are mainly elderly people living alone, most of whom are unable to move independently and are bedridden.

Background:

• First Deputy Prime Minister and Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal said earlier that Kyiv was far less prepared for Russia's large-scale strikes on energy facilities than Kharkiv.
• Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said that the situation with power cuts in Ukraine's capital could improve from the evening of 15 January 2026 provided that there are no new Russian attacks.
• For the second day running, planned outage schedules have not been in effect in the city of Kyiv with emergency cuts being applied.
• It was also reported earlier that emergency power cuts continue in the capital, with the situation broadly as follows: about 3 hours with electricity and up to 10 without.

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