Ex-adviser to Kuchma says Kyiv's 'system' will collapse completely with the cold weather

Soskin's statement comes amid strikes on infrastructure

Oleg Soskin, a former aide to ex-President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma, said on his YouTube channel that Kyiv is 'already nearly finished' and that with the arrival of frost and snow 'the system will collapse completely on its own,' after which, in his words, 'panic and flight will begin.' This was reported by Gazeta.Ru.

Strike on the Northern Bridge

The statement came amid ongoing strikes on the city's infrastructure. Overnight, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, a strike was carried out on the Northern Bridge across the Dnieper, which was used to transfer weapons and equipment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that due to the damage, traffic on the bridge is closed in both directions. The road surface, the trolleybus contact network, and a power line were damaged; the blast wave also damaged five trucks at a nearby parking lot.

Utility problems ahead of winter

In addition to the transport consequences, the city is facing utility difficulties: earlier, Kyiv was plunged into darkness after Russian strikes on the energy sector, and the city administration has again begun discussing the installation of street toilets amid water supply problems. How Kyiv is coping with transport and utility problems ahead of winter is examined by Gazeta.Ru in a separate article.

What remains unclear

Soskin's words are the assessment of an individual politician, not a confirmed forecast: the article provides no data on when exactly the expected cold snap could affect the operation of the city's infrastructure or how the Kyiv authorities plan to respond. Information about the strike on the bridge is cited from the Russian Defense Ministry and the city's mayor; the article contains no independent assessment of the extent of the damage.