Kyiv prepares ‘temporary relocation’; source alleges targets and pressure on staff

Kyiv confirms it is verifying vulnerable residents

On September 2, the Kyiv City State Administration, or KCSA, said the city was preparing for different scenarios during the coming heating season, including prolonged disruptions to electricity, heating or water.

Part of that work involves verifying information about residents who could require additional assistance because of their age, health or personal circumstances.

The groups identified by the city include older people living alone, adults and children with disabilities, and some families.

Kyiv says the preferred option is to support people in their own homes. If remaining there becomes unsafe or impractical, temporary relocation to a prepared facility may be offered.

The KCSA has separately stressed that “temporary relocation” and evacuation are different procedures.

According to the city, temporary relocation can take place only with the consent of the person concerned or their legal representative.

This partly overlaps with the anonymous source's statement that employees have been told not to describe the current preparations as an evacuation.

However, the city's public terminology does not by itself prove that an internal ban on the word “evacuation” exists or that employees can be punished for using it.

The city acknowledges that thousands have refused relocation

According to KCSA figures published on September 2, slightly more than 1,300 older people living alone, around 400 children with disabilities and 500 adults with disabilities had said they could agree to temporary relocation if necessary.

Deputy KCSA head Maryna Khonda also said there had been more than 3,000 cases the previous winter in which people rejected temporary relocation despite an available place and transport.

One central element of the source's account — that many residents are reluctant to leave their homes — is therefore acknowledged by the city itself.

Source alleges targets and threats of dismissal

The anonymous Media Visnyk source, who works within the KCSA system, describes another side of the preparations.

According to the source, employees are being tasked with compiling lists of people who could potentially be relocated, verifying their information and determining whether they would agree to leave if a crisis develops.

The source alleges that management expects staff to produce certain numerical results.

When residents refuse, the source says, responsibility for failing to meet those expectations is placed on employees themselves. The source also alleges threats of dismissal.

Media Visnyk has not obtained an order, internal correspondence or other documentary evidence confirming such a quota or threats.

We also found no published KCSA decision establishing a minimum number of residents that district authorities or social workers must persuade to relocate.

This part of the story therefore remains testimony from one anonymous source rather than an established fact.

Door-to-door visits have been used before

The claim that social workers visit the homes of mobility-impaired Kyiv residents is consistent with earlier documented practice.

On January 25, Ukraine's Social Policy Ministry announced door-to-door visits by social workers and volunteers to mobility-impaired and older residents in Kyiv's Desnianskyi district following severe electricity and heating disruptions.

The visits also involved compiling lists of residents' needs.

A day later, the KCSA announced additional temporary accommodation in city social institutions and said district authorities were continuing to identify residents who required assistance.

Door-to-door welfare visits, data verification and the compilation of lists are therefore not unprecedented.

That does not, however, confirm the source's allegation that current visits are being carried out to satisfy management quotas.

The payment claim remains the least substantiated part

Another important element of the source's account concerns the cost of accommodation.

The source says some residents are being offered places in specialised institutions outside Kyiv and are told that they would have to pay for their stay.

The source also claims that prices may differ depending on where the institution is located.

We have been unable to verify those claims.

In its September 2 statement, the KCSA had not yet published the final list of temporary accommodation facilities or their financial terms. City authorities said the number of places and conditions would be announced once the facilities were prepared.

Ukraine also has a separate state mechanism for providing shelter services to mobility-impaired internally displaced people and other people who have relocated.

Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 1169 provides for the cost of services actually delivered under that mechanism to be paid from budget funds. Following amendments adopted in June 2026, the maximum daily tariff is UAH 343.74 per recipient.

This does not establish that Kyiv will use that particular programme for its current preparations.

At the same time, the public documents reviewed do not support a general claim that a vulnerable Kyiv resident must personally pay for temporary accommodation offered by the authorities.

We also found no public confirmation of a system under which accommodation automatically becomes more expensive as the distance from Kyiv increases.

Without specific contracts, tariffs, names of institutions and payment documents, there is currently no evidentiary basis for alleging that money is being improperly diverted.

The Mila disaster raises a concrete safety question

The source also says some residents refer to the recent disaster in the village of Mila in Kyiv region when discussing whether they would agree to move.

In late August, a private care home for older people called Dobryi Dim was destroyed after a Russian strike and the subsequent detonation of ammunition nearby.

Suspilne reported that most of those killed in the village had been residents of the care home.

Media Visnyk cannot independently confirm that the Mila disaster directly caused particular Kyiv residents to reject relocation.

It nevertheless makes questions about the location of proposed facilities, shelters, backup power, medical support and protection from wartime risks highly relevant.

What is confirmed and what remains an allegation

It is confirmed that Kyiv is verifying information about vulnerable residents, preparing for possible temporary relocation and acknowledging that many people do not want to leave their homes.

It is also confirmed that social services have previously conducted door-to-door visits to mobility-impaired residents.

The allegations concerning numerical quotas, threats of dismissal, mandatory accommodation payments and distance-based pricing currently rest on the account of one anonymous source.

Those claims require documentary evidence, a second independent source or a specific response from the KCSA before they can be treated as established facts.