President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized Kyiv’s lagging resilience preparations for the second time in a week on Tuesday, Oct. 13, warning that even frontline regions are better protected against Russian strikes on the power grid and water supplies.
The president made the remarks in a statement on Telegram, a day after meeting with other Ukrainian authorities at Stavka, Ukraine’s top military command body. The meeting centered on how cities and regions are carrying out their resilience plans. The conclusion was that Kyiv is severely falling behind the rest of Ukraine in implementing its wartime resilience plan.
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“And Kyivans definitely feel this,” Zelensky said, because even after a single hit by a Shahed drone, “there are power and water outages in a significant part of the capital.”
Consultations on security and management
The discussion focused on urgent security and administrative steps to speed up Kyiv’s resilience plan and secure more support for residents.
Zelensky met with representatives of the security sector, business and local government, naming Lieutenant General Vasyl Malyuk, former Head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), Head of the State Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development Ivan Fedorov, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov, Ukrainian businessman and politician Kostiantyn Yefymenko, and Former MP Maksym Yefimov.
“Protection of energy facilities, critical infrastructure in Kyiv, carrying out tasks together with the government and the military, understanding people’s needs and a rational change in the algorithms for managing Kyiv – we are preparing decisions,” Zelensky said, calling on authorities to act as quickly as possible.
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Additional meetings and consultations are planned, although the president did not provide a timeline, nor did he say what changes to Kyiv’s management are under consideration.
Second rebuke in a week
The statement follows Zelensky’s criticism of the city’s authorities on Oct. 9, as Russian strikes caused significant damage to Ukraine’s power grid.
At the time, he called any delay in carrying out regional resilience plans unacceptable and said Kyiv’s authorities had fallen short in nearly every area. He also said Ukraine had updated its requests to partners for energy equipment and air defense.
Just a day earlier, attacks on the energy infrastructure and water facilities on Kyiv’s right bank left parts of four districts with supply problems.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has pushed back against the criticism.
In an interview with AFP, he said the city was working with “limited time, limited funding, a limited number of workers” and was building backup heating and stockpiling fuel, food and water. He warned that preparations could fail if air defense does not hold, and urged residents with relatives outside the capital to consider leaving temporarily, while stressing he was not calling for an evacuation.
Meanwhile, Kyiv’s resilience planning has been falling behind for months. When the National Security and Defense Council approved plans for most regions and major cities in March 2026, the capital was given extra time to finish its own.
Zelensky’s previous remarks came on the same day Ukraine’s delegation was in Miami for peace talks with Senior US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, alongside EU officials.
However, the discussions were overshadowed by an abrupt diesel agreement by US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Despite the negotiations and a short, unconfirmed “ceasefire” announced by Trump on Sunday, Oct. 11, Russian forces continued attacking Ukraine nationwide.
On Monday, Oct. 12, a high-rise residential building was struck with a Shahed drone in Kyiv, killing two and injuring at least nine civilians.
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