Kiev’s permanent population is currently about 3.6 million, including 300,000 refugees from other regions of Ukraine, compared to 3.8 million before the war, Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
In an interview with Spiegel published Friday, when asked if he knew how many people were left in Kiev, the mayor answered in the affirmative, referring to statistics on cell phone usage.
“We count how many cell phones are being used. Before the war there were 3.8 million people here, in March less than a million, in July two, two and a half million, now 3.6 million. 300,000 of them are registered refugees from other parts of the country. The city is full,” Klitschko said.
Asked about the restoration of power, water and heating supplies in the Ukrainian capital, he said that water and heating are already back in almost every apartment in Kiev. “The power supply deficit is 50%. Sometimes we turn off electricity in one district to turn it on in another district and vice versa. The situation is complicated, but under control,” the mayor said.
When asked how he assesses Germany’s position on Russia and Ukraine since the war began, the mayor replied, “The biggest mistake of Western politicians was thinking that Putin would be satisfied with the annexation of Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk. I know Putin’s mentality: he goes as far as we allow him to go.”
Klitschko also said that “the war will end when the last Russian soldier leaves our territory.”
According to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, the population of Kiev in 2019 was 2 million 966 thousand people. The population of the Kiev agglomeration (Kiev with its suburbs) exceeds 4 million people. Also a significant number of people registered in other localities live permanently in the capital.
