Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has advised residents who have friends or relatives outside the capital to consider temporary relocation as Russia intensifies its strikes on the city's energy and transport infrastructure. Speaking to Agence France-Presse in an interview published on October 8, Klitschko stressed that his recommendation was not an evacuation order and that he would never call for the city to be fully abandoned.
"That's Putin's goal… the best scenario for Putin is that we all leave and hand over our empty cities and our country to him," Klitschko said.
The mayor's remarks come as Russian forces have increasingly targeted Kyiv's critical infrastructure, including energy facilities and bridges across the Dnipro River. The strikes have caused widespread power outages, disruptions to the water supply, and temporary metro shutdowns. An attack on October 8 damaged an important energy facility, triggering emergency cuts across much of the city and halting train services on all three metro lines.
According to data from the Kyiv City State Administration's health department obtained by AFP, at least 534 civilians have been killed in Kyiv by Russian attacks since the 2022 full-scale invasion. Of those, 189 people have been killed this year — a figure that already exceeds the total number of civilian deaths recorded in the capital during all of 2025.
Klitschko declared that Kyiv is entering a "regime of survival" ahead of the 2026–2027 winter. Municipal authorities are preparing for the cold months by building backup heating systems, stockpiling fuel, food, and drinking water, and planning alternative pontoon crossings across the Dnipro to keep transport links functioning if bridges are damaged. The mayor warned, however, that preparations alone may not be enough: "No matter how well we prepare, if air defense does not work, we could end up in a bad scenario."
Some residents are already leaving or making plans to go. Anastasiya Dzyakava, chief executive of an online safety charity, told The Guardian she had rented a seven-bedroom house in the Carpathian mountains where staff and their families could stay if conditions in Kyiv become untenable. Another resident, Olena Konoplia, described to the BBC how she rented a cottage in a rural community two hours outside the capital to escape the constant air raid alerts and explosions.
Despite these individual departures, Le Monde reported in early October that there was no evidence yet of a mass exodus from the capital, with many residents continuing to work and maintain daily routines while preparing for possible interruptions to basic services.
The threat is expected to grow. A leaked Russian-language document obtained by RFE/RL's investigative unit Schemes — and reported by The New York Times — outlines a systematic winter campaign to cut power in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Odesa by as much as 90 percent, while also targeting water, sewage, and heating systems. Dated August 2026, the document lists 60 "key targets," including Ukraine's three operating nuclear power plants. Energy analysts caution that the document appears to be a conceptual briefing rather than an operational combat order, and Russian officials have not commented on it.
The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, Matthias Schmale, has warned that attacks on energy infrastructure could trigger a major "crisis within a crisis" if residents of high-rise buildings near the frontline are left without electricity or safe water for days during a harsh winter.
What is confirmed: Russian strikes have severely damaged Kyiv's energy, water, and transport networks; the mayor has suggested temporary relocation for those with options outside the city; and the city is stockpiling resources for winter. What remains unknown: how effectively Ukraine's air defense will hold against the expected winter campaign, and whether the leaked Russian plan will be implemented in full. Officials and residents alike are awaiting the answers as temperatures drop.