Ukraine’s war-battered Sumy region rebuilding priority energy facilities

The Sumy regional military administration is preparing to rebuild the priority objects.

The press service reported that Okhtyrka thermal power station and the train station area in Trostianka would be the first to be restored.

Regional governor Volodymyr Artiukh reported that the administration identified several priority objects in the region, which should be restored as a matter of priority together with the government, local authorities, and international donors.

The Okhtyrka thermal power plant was destroyed by Russian artillery shelling and airstrikes on February 28, March 3, and 7, 2022, in the first days of Russia's invasion.

During the meeting that discussed providing heat to war-torn Okhtyrka in the autumn-winter period of 2023/2024, its parties developed a road map to restore the plant.

"We set specific tasks and terms of execution," said the administration. 

The governor's office also reported that restoring the outpatient clinic of the general family medicine practice in the Khukhra village in the Okhtyrka district has moved from the dead point. 

"Before Russia beginning of the full-scale invasion of the territory of Ukraine, the facility carried out major repairs of the premises and roof, internal repairs in the offices,"  the statement says. "The dispensary was equipped with modern medical equipment. Due to an airstrike on March 16, 2022, the dispensary was completely destroyed with all material and technical security."

According to Artiukh, last year, the employees of the Rolls-Royce company collected funds for the reconstruction of the facility. Still, currently, the pace of restoration of this facility depends on how quickly the officials will work on the ground.

He noted that there is already a developed construction project, a plot of land, so it is necessary to "take it and start work."

In Trostianka, which was also heavily damaged by Russian actions, the Railway Station Square, which the Russian occupiers actually destroyed, will be restored.

"Restoring all these objects requires constant control and effective cooperation of all involved participants. I am sure that the heads of communities will also prioritize these issues," Artiukh stressed.

The border settlements of the Sumy region are still being regularly shelled and bombed by Russia, which is now doing it from its territory. On the morning of May 9, 9 Russian shellings were recorded in the Sumy region.