Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, has warned those who fled Ukraine’s capital at the start of the war with Russia not to return as “the risk of dying is pretty high”, even as he offered a glint of normality by partially lifting an alcohol ban.
The former world heavyweight boxing champion said he expected “huge battles” in the coming days in satellite towns and the outskirts of the city, which Russian forces have repeatedly tried but failed to encircle.
Klitschko said:
The risk of dying is pretty high, and that’s why my advice to anyone who wants to come back is: please, take a little bit more time.
Oleksiy Arestovych, a political adviser to Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, echoed the mayor’s concerns.
He said
Russian attacks were continuing around Kyiv and the encircled city of Chernihiv, 100 miles to the north, despite claims from the Kremlin that they were withdrawing out of respect for the ongoing peace talks.
Arestovych said:
Our troops are chasing them both to the north-west and north-east [of Kyiv], pushing the enemy away from Kyiv.
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, claimed Russian forces were planning to use a church north-west of
Kyiv as a launchpad for a new assault.
The official said:
We believe the Russian military is using this staging point as part of its assault on Kyiv.
At least 2 million people – half of the city’s population –
fled Kyiv in the first few weeks of the conflict as Russian troops made their way to its north-eastern edge with the intention of storming the capital and likely decapitating the government.
That plan failed, and the relaxation on Friday of the prohibition on the sale of alcohol in shops and the hospitality industry that has been imposed since 1 March had offered residents in Kyiv some glint of normality. Under the regulations, alcohol can be bought between 11am and 4pm. The initial ban had initially been imposed due to fears of public disorder.
