Kyiv starts heating season under wartime conditions; two districts left without heat

Why it matters

Heating in a major European capital is being launched under wartime conditions, with ongoing Russian strikes on energy infrastructure complicating supply. Residential and social-infrastructure heating in parts of two Kyiv districts is delayed because of damage to an energy facility, signalling uneven service at the very start of the heating season. The launch coincides with public and expert questions about Kyiv's readiness for winter and the resilience of the city's combined heat and power plants after repeated strikes.

What happened

Kyiv began its heating season on Thursday, 16 October. Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko announced the start in a post on his Telegram channel, saying the season was launching under extreme conditions because of constant shelling. Heat is being connected first to social infrastructure facilities, including hospitals, schools and kindergartens, with the connection carried out upon individual requests from the managers of those institutions.

Parts of the Dnipro and Darnytskyi districts remain without heating. According to the reports, an energy facility there sustained significant damage in a recent Russian strike, and restoration work is ongoing. During the week referenced in the reporting, Russian forces hit all three combined heat and power plants (TECs) that supply Kyiv, and on 15 October a Russian strike on a critical infrastructure object in Kyiv caused power outages in parts of the capital and the surrounding region.

How Ukrainian sources describe it

All supplied sources are Ukrainian and centre on domestic political actors: Mayor Klitschko, Kyiv's city resilience planning, and an announced rally demanding his resignation on 17 October. Ukrainian reporting foregrounds the immediate logistics of the heating start — the Telegram announcement, the priority for hospitals, schools and kindergartens, and the two districts left without heat — and links them to the broader pattern of Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure since 30 September. The same outlets carry accusations of failed preparation alongside Klitschko's rebuttal.

Where reporting differs

Klitschko rejected accusations that he had failed to prepare Kyiv for the heating season and for Russian energy strikes, saying that priority energy-resilience measures in Kyiv had been completed and that blocked funding and disputes around resilience plans had slowed further work. Critics and the energy expert Oleksandr Kharchenko took a different view, arguing that Kyiv would not manage to provide alternative heat sources for the destroyed TEC-4 and TEC-5 in time and that backup capacity for TEC-6 would not arrive before January.

Background

Russia has been conducting massive targeted strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, including in the Kyiv region, since 30 September, and during the week covered by the reporting Russian forces attacked all three combined heat and power plants (TECs) supplying Kyiv. TEC-4 and TEC-5 were destroyed by Russian strikes in spring 2026, and an energy expert said the capital would not manage to provide alternative heat sources for them in time; backup for TEC-6 is not expected before January. At the start of October, Kyiv experienced power outages and, in some districts, water supply interruptions. A rally demanding the resignation of Mayor Klitschko was announced for 17 October, and Klitschko rejected accusations of failing to prepare for the heating season, saying priority resilience measures had been completed but that funding blockages and disputes around resilience plans had slowed implementation.