Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko serves at the place where a shell hit a residential building, as Russia鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine March 18, 2022. REUTERS FILE PHOTO
The mayor of Kyiv, former professional boxer Vitali Klitschko, traded rhetorical punches on Sunday with Ukraine鈥檚 president and his allies over how to help residents withstand power cuts, deriding their disputes as 鈥渟enseless鈥� amid Russia鈥檚 military campaign.
Klitschko said 430 鈥渨arming centers鈥� were helping residents cope with the effects of Russian attacks on power stations and more than 100 more were planned in case of extreme conditions. President Volodymyr Zelensky noted last week there were a lot of complaints about measures adopted in the capital.
鈥淚 do not want to become involved in political battles, particularly in the current situation,鈥� Klitschko said in a video posted on Telegram.
鈥淭hat is senseless. I have things to do in the city.鈥�
Klitschko, who had been mired in several disputes with Zelensky before the invasion, said the president鈥檚 allies had engaged in 鈥渕anipulation鈥� about the city鈥檚 efforts, including 鈥渋ncomprehensible photos鈥� posted online.
鈥淭o put it mildly, this is not nice. Not for Ukrainians or for our foreign partners,鈥� Klitschko said. 鈥淭oday, like never before, everyone must unite and work together. And here we have some sort of political games.鈥�
But one of the president鈥檚 top allies landed a new blow, saying Klitschko鈥檚 explanations 鈥渄iffer considerably鈥� from what residents were reporting. He gave the mayor a week to rectify issues and submit to inspections of the help centers.
鈥淚 have a proposal. City authorities have a week to correct the errors and we conduct inspections together with the mayor,鈥� David Arakhamia, head of the president鈥檚 Servant of the People group in parliament, said on Telegram.
Zelensky has in the past week promoted the efforts of thousands of 鈥渋nvincibility centers鈥� set up throughout Ukraine to provide heat, water, internet and mobile phone links.
In his nightly video address on Friday, Zelensky said the Kyiv mayor had not done enough to help beleaguered residents.
鈥淭o put it mildly, more work is needed,鈥� Zelensky said.
Zelensky was elected by a landslide in 2019, five years after Klitschko first took office. Before the war, the two leaders had clashed over the way the capital and its services were being run.
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