Klitschko Says Central Government Is Behind Protests Demanding His Exit

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the central government was the “customer” and the “scriptwriters” of the rally demanding his resignation. He spoke on Radio Svoboda.

“The customers and scriptwriters of this protest are known… Everything is being done to install a military administration, introduce manual control and build a vertical, to destroy local self-government. The key task and the slogans that were heard coincide with what the central government is voicing,” Klitschko said. He added that it is unclear where the conclusions came from, since the heating season has not started yet and someone has already decided there is no preparation for it.

Shelters and electricity

According to Klitschko, there is a group of people in the government who want to remove him from office. He did not name anyone he believes could be the “customer and director” of the rallies.

Responding to criticism over the lack of mobile shelters in Kyiv, he said the capital has more than 4,000 shelters. He said funds for mobile shelters were allocated to district administrations but not used: “Not one of the administrations applied for mobile shelters.” He claimed he has no influence over the heads of the capital’s district administrations and cannot use that money on his own initiative. The mayor added that the power is also switched off in his flat, but he gets home late.

Background

On Saturday, 17 October, a rally demanding the resignation of the Kyiv mayor was held on Khreshchatyk near the city administration building. President Volodymyr Zelensky had accused Kyiv’s city authorities of completely failing to take the necessary steps to introduce resilience plans amid continuing Russian aggression. Klitschko’s UDAR faction had urged Kyivans not to attend, citing the security situation, including the risk of a Shahed strike on a crowd.