For six months, the Kryvyi Rih district of the Dnipropetrovsk region remained a hotspot. The enemy shelled the local municipalities every day. The Apostolove, Shyroke and Zelenodolsk municipalities suffered the most. But after three weeks without shelling, people already took to restoring their native towns, villages and homes. This was announced by the Regional Military Administration.

“The Armed Forces of Ukraine pushed the enemy away from this area to a safer distance. Now we are out of their artillery range,” explained Yevhen Sytnychenko, Head of Kryvyi Rih District Military Administration. “We have air raid sirens going off just like everywhere else the country, but we have started to restore damaged buildings and facilities. Winter is coming, and we must preserve them.”

An Uragan MLRS shell pierced the roof of one of the Zelenodolsk kindergartens. It destroyed the reinforced concrete ceiling and landed in one of the bedrooms.

“The shell fragment was more than a metre long. It fell on the cots. They actually burned down from the impact,” said Olena, director of the kindergarten. “Utility workers have already restored the brickwork and Welded some fittings so that the ceiling could be rebuilt. We are now repairing the interior.”

In the Zelenodolsk municipality, almost 60% of municipal facilities have been damaged. These are schools, kindergartens, hospitals and cultural centres. One of them is a sports complex. Before the war, children played football and basketball, practised rowing and rhythmic gymnastics here.

“The last shelling of the sports complex was about a month and a half ago. 360 square meters of glass shattered. In the large, medium and small halls,” said Oleksandr, manager of the sports complex. “Everything has already been glazed. Everyone pitched in.”

Residential buildings were also damaged. The town of Zelenodolsk alone has more than 50% of its high-rise buildings damaged. Apartments are left without windows. In some places, the balconies were also destroyed. The utility workers are currently also restoring the façades shredded by shell fragments.

“International donors work directly with residents. That’s why we help people with grant applications. These funds will be useful for the restoration of housing,” says Dmytro Neveselyi, Head of the Zelenodolsk municipality. “Some apartments were directly hit by shells. There is a lot of destruction there, so we install windows and balconies and help with building materials.”

One day in March, Halyna visited her mother. She was going to spend the night here, but an enemy shell landed right in their house.

"I thought it was safer here, on the first floor. Then suddenly I heard a terrible whistle. The house shook and there was an explosion. It knocked out doors and windows, raised the flooring. Fortunately, there was no fire in the apartment, since all the exits were blocked,” said Halyna, a resident of Zelenodolsk.

According to Halyna, her mother had had a stroke before, so she didn’t realise what happened. But she really wants to go home, because she spent her whole life here. Utility workers are bringing this moment closer. Interior walls, which were destroyed by the shock wave, are being erected.

Nataliia has her own important task. She is a plant care technician. She came to Zelenodolsk Park even in the “hottest” moments.

“Under shelling, we hid, fell on the ground. But then everyone went to work. Plants were watered, cared for, planted. Lawns and many trees were damaged by shelling. Maple trees were hit several times. They burned out completely. Not a twig found afterwards” said Nataliia.

The enemy destroyed, and they restored. During the war, more than 1,000 trees and bushes and over 2,000 flowers were planted. They are working because they believe that Zelenodolsk should welcome the victory looking pretty.