Star Metro - Kyiv entering 'survival' mode amid Russian strikes surge: mayor tells AFP

In a tactical shift in recent weeks, Russia has expanded daytime missile and drone attacks against Kyiv, targeting key bridges and the city centre.

It has also resumed strikes on the energy grid, triggering power cuts that has Kyiv locals braced for a repeat of last winter, when heating and power were knocked out for days as temperatures hit -20C.

"Every day brings new reports of destroyed buildings, of people injured or tragically killed, as the shelling of our city intensifies," Vitali Klitschko told AFP.

"Today the issue is survival," added the mayor, a towering former world heavyweight champion boxer who has served as Kyiv mayor since 2014.

Russian troops advanced on the city in the first weeks of the 2022 invasion, but were pushed back in a matter of weeks.

The capital had since mostly been spared from the devastation in frontline regions, though missile and drone attacks on residential areas have still killed hundreds.

With the front line mostly static, Moscow has shifted its attention to long-range strikes on Kyiv, launching hard-to-intercept ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones.

- 'Empty cities' -

Russian attacks have killed at least 534 people since 2022, according to Kyiv City State Administration's Department of Health data, obtained by AFP.

Some 189 have died so far this year, surpassing the toll for all of 2025.

Klitschko said residents with friends or relatives outside Kyiv should consider temporarily relocating -- repeating a suggestion that had triggered a backlash last year.

He insisted he would never call for a full evacuation.

"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," he said.

Moscow has made life in the capital much harder.

It has repeatedly hit bridges across the Dnipro river, causing traffic to be suspended across the city.

"The connection between the left and right banks is one of the key factors in the city's ability to function," Klitschko said.

The city was developing alternative pontoon crossings to help ease the gridlock in a city with a daytime population -- including commuters -- of around 3.5 million.

The latest strikes have caused rolling power outages and left parts of Kyiv without water for several hours earlier this week.

Hours after the interview, service on the Kyiv metro was temporarily suspended due to power outages.

Klitschko also warned that disruption to Kyiv's water infrastructure could cause a "quite large-scale" crisis.

- 'Very difficult' task -

To prepare for the winter, the city has been building backup heating systems and stockpiling fuel, food and drinking water.

"No matter how well we prepare, if air defence does not work, we could end up in a bad scenario," Klitschko said.

He laid some of the blame for shortcomings on President Volodymyr Zelensky's government, with which he has been perennially at odds.

In turn, the government has repeatedly accused Kyiv of lagging on its plans for winter.

Klitschko said the accusations were unfounded.

"Finding scapegoats won't make people warmer," he said.

The city authorities, he said, faced a "very difficult" task with "limited time, limited funding, a limited number of workers."

Three people were killed in Russian strikes in Kyiv on Thursday.

In a sign of the near-constant threat the city now faces, an air raid alert rang out as Klitschko was speaking to AFP.

"When we hear an air‑raid alert, I pray to God -- and to our air defence, because the life of our city depends on them," he said.

A.Bergeron--SMC