As a result of Russia’s large-scale armed aggression, some cities in Ukraine have been completely destroyed, so together with international partners, a plan is being developed to restore the country after the victory and rebuild the infrastructure of cities, towns and villages according to the global best practices. This was stated by Kyrylo Tymoshenko, Deputy Head of the Office of the President, in a video address to the ReVIVEd Ukraine – reVIVEd Communities Forum.

“According to our preliminary estimates, more than 350,000 facilities and millions of square meters of housing, educational, healthcare and sports infrastructure have been destroyed in the country, thousands of kilometres of roads and railways, airports, ports and much more have been damaged. While some of these facilities can be rebuilt, others have been completely destroyed,” he said.

In particular, according to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, some cities in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions have been completely destroyed. These are Mariupol, Volnovakha, Rubizhne, Popasna, Lyman, Sievierodonetsk. The situation is also difficult in the occupied municipalities of the Kherson region, and some municipalities of the Mykolaiv and Zaporizhia regions suffered significant damage. In Kharkiv, part of the North Saltivka residential district was completely destroyed.

“Our common goal is to restore everything that the Russians destroyed in this bloody war as soon as possible after the victory. And not just to restore, but to create a new, strong, modern Ukraine where the infrastructure of every municipality, city and town meets the highest standards of European and world quality and inclusiveness,” said Kyrylo Tymoshenko.

The Deputy Head of the Office of the President reminded that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had announced the Programme for the Restoration of Ukraine and called on the leaders of the democratic world to join the reconstruction of Ukrainian communities.

According to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, during the last month, experts from the Office of the President, the Government, NGOs together with regional and local authorities worked on the development of a plan for the restoration and modernisation of Ukraine. Work is also underway with associations of European cities. In particular, a Memorandum of Cooperation is prepared to be signed with Eurocities and other international associations to involve them in projects to restore Ukrainian communities.

“In July this year, a conference will be held in Lugano to discuss the participation of international partners in the reconstruction and modernisation of Ukraine. Our ambitious goal is to join the EU. The support of international partners is very important for us,” he said.

The Deputy Head of the Office of the President assured that the Ukrainian authorities seek to use all opportunities to establish effective cooperation with the free world to involve them in the reconstruction of Ukraine, as Ukrainians have earned the right to such assistance by their courage and resilience in the face of the Russian invasion.

“We have already proven that Ukraine is above all for us, as we have proven over the past years with the Great Construction programme that we know how to build with quality. We will definitely win and we will definitely restore our motherland,” said Kyrylo Tymoshenko.