Zelenskyy Says No One Wants to Lead Kyiv's Special Administration Before Winter

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that everyone he asked to head a special administration for Kyiv has turned the job down. He made the remarks during a meeting with journalists, as reported by Ukrinform.

According to the president, he had weighed several candidates to lead the body, which is meant to manage the capital as winter approaches. "I spoke with various managers about whether they want to head the Kyiv Administration. No one wants to," he said.

Zelenskyy added that he has asked Prime Minister Koretskyi to put together a special team of managers for Kyiv. He did not say what powers the team would have. "I am ready to speak personally with whoever they name to me and make a request to them. Set up a council and work out solutions," the president said.

He also named several people he has approached. Zelenskyy said he wants Vasyl Maliuk, the former chief of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), to join the group as an adviser on security matters. The president also spoke with Oleksandr Kubrakov, a former deputy prime minister for restoration, and Volodymyr Groisman, a former prime minister. Serhii Sukhomlyn, the former head of the Restoration Agency, declined the offer.

Zelenskyy said the reluctance went beyond those names. "I spoke with people from business, from other spheres of public administration. No one wants to be involved, because afterwards no one will say thank you and others will constantly talk about politics," he said.

The president again criticised Vitali Klitschko over what he described as poor preparation of Kyiv for the winter.

The discussion follows a statement Zelenskyy made on 13 October, when he said Kyiv is the least-prepared region in Ukraine according to the country's resilience plans. He said at the time that he had therefore begun consultations on "security and management steps".