Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko called accusations that the city was disrupting the heating season groundless and said the city authorities were preparing for its start amid continued Russian attacks, writes Interfax-Ukraine.

“Groundless accusations are being made that the heating season is allegedly being disrupted, and these are being spread by media outlets linked to the central government”, Klitschko wrote in the caption to a video address released on Tuesday.

He also said there were attempts to remove heads of territorial communities from office on contrived pretexts. Klitschko said that, as head of the Association of Ukrainian Cities, he believed such actions were aimed at weakening local self-government and replacing elected leaders with appointed heads of military administrations.

“I would like to remind everyone that attempts are being made to destroy local self-government and remove 300 heads of communities. As head of the Association of Ukrainian Cities, I can say that 300 city mayors are being removed from office for various contrived reasons, made up on the spot, and replaced with heads of military administrations”, - said Klitschko in the video address.

He emphasized that he had been elected by Kyiv residents and noted that he was doing everything possible to live up to their trust. According to him, voters would be able to assess how well he had succeeded in the next elections.

Klitschko also rejected the accusations against him as groundless and noted that the city authorities regularly provide information about preparations for the heating season: “But, excuse me, given the intensity of the shelling, the power outages, the destruction of the electricity supply system and the ongoing damage to infrastructure, the mayor of the city is not responsible for air defense”.