Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denis Shmigal has ruled out evacuating the capital, Kiev, for the time being, just two days after the city’s mayor put such a possibility on the table in the event of power outages.
«Evacuation can be used as a last resort, as an emergency measure. You always have to have a plan B, but the situation is far from declaring the evacuation of any city that is not on the front line, let alone the capital,» Shmigal said.
Regarding possible power cuts as a result of Russia’s incessant attacks on these facilities, the Ukrainian Prime Minister stressed that the authorities are doing «everything possible» to restore the functioning of the power system.
Thus, he pointed out that the local, regional and national authorities are involved in the acquisition of spare equipment in order to «quickly repair» the affected facilities and to be prepared for possible unfavorable situations.
These statements by the head of government come just two days after sources close to the capital’s administration confirmed that there are plans for a total evacuation of the city if power outages persist during the winter.
The warning comes after the Ukrainian state operator Ukrernergo announced last Saturday power cuts in seven regions of the country, including the Kiev region and the capital to compensate for the loss of power caused by the Russian invasion.
On Tuesday, Shmigal reassured the population that Ukraine has sufficient energy reserves to face the winter, although he recognized that the Kiev region and the city of Kiev, as well as Kharkov, are the places where the power supply seems to be the most compromised.
