The First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, took a swipe at Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko after he criticised her husband.
Upon appearing on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, the wife of Volodymyr Zelensky was asked for her thoughts on Mr Klitschko’s claims the Ukrainian President was risking turning into an autocrat.
Ms Zelenska calmly replied: “I would like to advise anyone who speaks publicly to think what consequences it is going to have for the morale of the Ukrainians.
“Everyone should do their own job. The Mayor of Kyiv has plenty of duties, and he really needs to pay attention to them. It’s very much needed.”
Earlier this month, the Ukrainian former heavyweight boxing champion and opposition leader fiercely attacked Mr Zelensky.
Speaking to German weekly Der Spiegel, Mr Klitschko accused the Ukrainian President of holding too much power. He said: “We will no longer be any different from Russia, where everything depends on the whim of one man.”
The mayor added the only counterpower left in Ukraine since the war began comes from city councils like his own.
Moreover, he believes that during the first months of the full-scale invasion, Ukrainian mayors played key leadership roles, including protecting their residents and supporting the military.
The Kyiv Mayor also hit out at Mr Zelensky during a separate interview, this time with Switzerland’s 20 Minutes programme.
Accusing Mr Zelensky of making multiple mistakes in the run-up to the conflict with Russia, he said: “People wonder why we weren’t better prepared for this war, why Zelensky denied until the last moment that it would come… or [how] the Russians could get to Kyiv so quickly.”
Mr Klitschko’s interviews came more than one year after the Ukrainian President had publicly criticised the mayor for the first time since the war had begun, claiming the emergency shelters set up in Kyiv were not up to standard.
Thousands of centres have been set up across the war-torn country to provide people access to heat, water, internet and mobile phone links after Russian attacks.
In a pointed evening address which seemingly broke the image of national unity projected by the Ukrainian President until then, Mr Zelensky said: “Unfortunately, local authorities have not performed well in all cities. In particular, there are a lot of complaints in Kyiv … To put it mildly, more work is needed.
“Please pay attention – the people of Kyiv need more support … a lot of [them] have been without power for 20 or even 30 hours. We expect quality work from the mayor’s office.”
Mr Klitschko was elected Mayor of Kyiv in 2014. He has been at odds with Mr Zelensky since the president was elected in 2019.
