President Volodymyr Zelensky wants tighter management of Kyiv before winter – and is struggling to find people willing to take the job. He has asked Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyi to assemble a “special cabinet for Kyiv” of business managers and “strong people”, he told journalists on 26–27 October, adding that he was ready to “talk personally” to anyone named.
His model is Kharkiv, where city and regional authorities cooperate despite constant attacks. Zelensky said he had nothing personal against Mayor Vitali Klitschko, but that the capital’s resilience plans were not fully carried out and critical infrastructure was not adequately protected. Klitschko, he said, should recruit experienced managers himself.
Who has already said no
The names in play include former infrastructure minister Oleksandr Kubrakov, ex-prime minister Volodymyr Groysman and former SBU chief Vasyl Maliuk, who could handle security. According to Suspilne, cited by ZN.ua, Groysman, Kubrakov and former Restoration Agency head Serhii Sukhomlyn were also considered to lead the Kyiv city administration; all three declined. No appointments have been confirmed. Zelensky put the reluctance down to thanklessness: nobody would be thanked, and others would keep arguing politics.
The row is weeks old. On 13 October Zelensky said emergency plans were further advanced almost everywhere else, even in border and frontline regions. Klitschko called the charges unfounded and accused the presidential office on Telegram of trying to undermine local self-government and push him out. On 17 October several hundred people rallied outside City Hall demanding his resignation (“Where are the shelters?”); Klitschko calls the protests staged.
The numbers behind the feud
Of more than $2.3bn allocated to Kyiv for winter preparation in 2026, only 51.1% had been spent by 1 September, according to the Finance Ministry as reported by the Kyiv Independent. In September Klitschko promised 40–50 mobile shelters within a month; the first appeared on 15 October. Analyst Oleksandr Serhiienko, cited by ZN.ua, puts the funding the National Security Council set for the stability plan at UAH 67.5bn against a city budget of UAH 106bn; the city offered UAH 20.4bn. District administrations left UAH 500m earmarked for shelters unspent. Klitschko points to air defence and protection of Ukrenergo facilities, which are the state’s job, and says the capital’s grid has been hit almost 50 times this year.
The legal picture is awkward: Klitschko is elected and can only resign, but the president can strip him of the city administration post, relying on the military administration under Andrii Tkachov. The Kyiv Independent considers his removal unlikely.
Our assessment: a “special cabinet” with no legal status may speed up decisions but cannot replace competences. Without a clear split between city, military administration and government, it risks becoming one more friction point. What matters is whether shelters, heating and water supply visibly improve before the first hard frosts. For Ukrainians in Germany with family in Kyiv this is no abstract matter: Klitschko advised in early October that residents leave temporarily if they can, and the grid remains a target, as on 27 October (Earlier coverage).
Sources: Radio Svoboda, Kyiv Post, Kyiv Independent, ORF, ZN.ua
