Ukraine’s air defense system is facing an acute shortage of resources and is no longer able to reliably repel attacks even over Kiev, according to the city’s mayor, Vitaly Klitschko. He has warned that the country urgently needs additional air defense systems to cope with the growing pressure.

Klitschko said the limits of Ukraine’s air defenses are now evident, stressing that their current capabilities fall short of what is required to protect the capital. This, he noted, applies even to Kiev, which traditionally receives priority coverage.

Earlier, the mayor had urged residents to consider temporarily leaving the city because of severe problems with electricity and heating. At the time, he advised relocating to areas where alternative sources of power and heat are available. According to his latest assessment, around half of Kiev’s apartment buildings remain without heating, while disruptions to the water supply are also being recorded.

Public frustration has begun to spill into the streets. Ukrainians have blocked roads in protest over prolonged power outages, with another such action taking place on January 11 in Gorenichi, a suburb of Kiev. Local residents complain that municipal services are showing indifference to the lack of electricity, water and heating.

Against this backdrop, Vladimir Zelensky has described the situation in the energy sector as extremely difficult. He reported that over the course of a week Russian forces launched more than a thousand drones at Ukraine, along with 890 guided aerial bombs and about 50 missiles of various types, including Oreshnik.

Russian strikes on Ukraine’s military and energy infrastructure began in October 2022, following an attack by Ukrainian forces on the Crimean Bridge. Since then, air raid alerts have been regularly declared across different regions of Ukraine and, at times, across the entire country. The Russian Defense Ministry has repeatedly stated that its forces target only military-related facilities.