Zelenksy’s biggest fight… his duel with Kyiv mayor, former boxer Vitali Klitschko

In a sign of simmering political tension within Ukrainian ranks, Volodymyr Zelensky has clashed with Kiev mayor and former boxer Vitali Klitschko after three residents were killed in a rocket attack after being locked out of a bomb shelter.

No love is lost between the couple, who have clashed since the war began, and in a scathing attack on Klitschko, Zelensky said that we are not only facing the Russian enemy, but also “internal”.

An irate Zelensky said if local Kyiv officials were unable to protect residents by keeping bomb shelters open, they will be prosecuted and “knocked out” in a thinly disguised dig at the former heavyweight boxing champion.

Police have now opened a criminal investigation after a nine-year-old girl, her mother and another woman were killed in the Russian missile strike on Thursday after the air raid shelter they were running to failed to open.

Zelensky said in his nightly video message that shelters “should remain accessible.” Never again should we see a repeat of last night’s situation in Kiev.”

This was ‘very clearly’ the task of the local authorities to ‘ensure that the shelters are available and accessible 24 hours a day’.

“It is painful to see the negligence of this duty. It is painful to see victims. And if duty is not fulfilled on the ground, it is the direct responsibility of law enforcement agencies to prosecute.”

In previous remarks to reporters in Moldova, Zelensky said that we must face not only the Russian enemy, but also “internal ones”. He said the response could be a “knockout” blow, a veiled dig at Klitschko, a former heavyweight boxing champion.

“People will answer for the fact that there were people who couldn’t get into the bomb shelter and unfortunately died. As if having Russia as an enemy isn’t enough, we also have internal ones,” a visibly angry Zelensky said before adding, “there could be a ‘knockout’.

Zelensky and Klitschko have butted heads since the beginning of the war.

In December, Ukrainian President Klitschko and his city officials criticized him for not doing enough to provide enough emergency shelters to help Ukrainians without power and heat after Russian attacks on the energy system.

‘Unfortunately, municipalities have not performed well in all cities. There are a lot of complaints in Kiev in particular,” Zelensky said at the time.

“More work is needed, to say the least,” he said, adding that the level of services available in many Kiev centers was not good enough.

“Please pay attention – the people of Kiev need more support… a lot [them] been without power for 20 or even 30 hours. We expect quality work from the mayor.’

Klitschko later dismissed criticism of the winter preparations, saying he believed it was politically driven and that it looked “strange” to foreign governments backing Ukraine.

“It looks strange when we are united against a single enemy, but we start fighting inland,” he said.

‘Our foreign partners say ‘you have a common enemy, but you can’t come to an agreement’.

“I am convinced that politics is behind this, because representatives of a political group started running around to find fault (in Kiev),” Klitschko said at the time.

Within Zelensky’s circle, Klitschko, who was elected mayor of Kiev in 2014, is still seen as a serious political rival.

Kiev’s mayor is reportedly planning to revive his political party UDAR and could become the leader of an alliance of disgruntled regional elites, according to the think tank Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“As Ukrainian politics is starting to come back to life, the conflict between the presidential administration and the mayor of Kiev only seems to be getting bigger,” said researcher Konstantin Skorkin.

Klitschko, now in his ninth year as mayor, was seen as one of Zelensky’s most prominent political opponents before the Russian invasion, and they often clashed over politics.

Klitschko is an ally of former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko, the leader of the opposition European Solidarity party, and the pair could pose a threat to Zelensky’s leadership.

In 2019, Klitschko lashed out at Zelensky, accusing his government of an “illegal” attempt to curb his power as mayor of Kiev.

Zelensky controls the majority of the Ukrainian parliament, and toppling Klitschko as mayor would mean putting an ally in charge of the capital. And in July 2019, Ukrainian President Klitschko called for some of his powers to be lost.

At the time, Klitschko accused Zelensky’s government of trying to “eliminate me and appoint a person who was not elected by the citizens of Kiev.”

By law, Kyiv’s elected mayor must also fulfill the administrative role, Klitschko said at the time, accusing Zelensky of wanting to establish “direct presidential rule” in the capital.

The renewed political spat comes after Ukrainian troops in Kiev said on Friday they shot down more than 30 Russian missiles and drones overnight and two people were injured by falling debris before authorities lifted warnings of airstrikes across most of the country. country have lifted.

Russia has launched about 20 separate missile and drone strikes against Ukrainian cities since early May.

Kyiv military authorities said on Telegram that Russia launched drones and cruise missiles at the same time.

“According to preliminary information, more than 30 air targets of various types have been detected and destroyed in the airspace over and around Kiev by air defense forces,” they said in a statement.

Klitschko, who previously reported two separate waves of attacks, wrote on Telegram that there had been no calls for rescue services.

The Ukrainian military said Russia had launched 15 missiles and 18 drones.

Kiev region authorities said two people were injured as a result of falling debris, including a child.

“Furthermore, the falling debris damaged five private houses,” the state administration told Telegram.