Shmyhal announces 2 cities, 4 villages to be 'comprehensively restored'

Two cities and four villages across five oblasts will be completely rebuilt as part of the Ukrainian government's efforts to "build back better," Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on April 25.  

This includes the city of Borodianka and the village of Moshchun in Kyiv Oblast, the city of Trostianets in Sumy Oblast, the village of Posad-Pokrovske in Kherson Oblast, the village of Tsyrkuny in Kharkiv Oblast, and the village of Yahidne in Chernihiv Oblast.

"All these settlements suffered terrible destruction. Now they will be comprehensively restored. This means that not only individual buildings and structures will be rebuilt, but everything — with a systemic approach, new planning, and complete transformation of these settlements," Shmyhal said.

However, the reconstruction of these six settlements will not impact efforts elsewhere in the country. According to Shmyhal, there are "hundreds of different projects, hundreds of cities and towns, where reconstruction will take place simultaneously."

President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Posad-Pokrovske during his trip to Kherson Oblast in late March. He met with local residents who stressed the importance of rebuilding a large number of houses and social infrastructure facilities that had been damaged by Russian forces.

The Kyiv School of Economics reported in late March that Russia's all-out war in Ukraine has damaged or destroyed over 150,000 residential buildings, including houses, apartment buildings, and dormitories, totaling $53.6 billion in damages. Damages to infrastructure are estimated at $36.2 billion.

‘It hurts’: Kharkiv resident walks around hardest-hit district

Oleh Puteshenko walked through the ruins of his former workplace, a restaurant in Kharkiv, barely holding back tears. The 46-year-old, who used to work as a security guard, spoke proudly of the restaurant as he showed the terrace where he spent most of his days taking care of the

Kyiv IndependentAsami Terajima