Comprehensive recovery: Kyiv region’s battered Irpin gets restored

A foreign delegation came to Irpin to see with their own eyes the results of repairs and the process of restoring the houses destroyed by the war. They were accompanied by the head of the Kyiv regional military administration, Ruslan Kravchenko, and the mayor of Irpin, Oleksandr Markushyn.

Unfortunately, after each massive Russian shelling, the number of destroyed and damaged residential objects, as well as infrastructure objects, increases, in particular in the Kyiv region. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, more than 28 thousand objects have been destroyed and damaged. Irpin has become the most damaged city in the Kyiv region.

The pace of reconstruction here is quite high — in the Kyiv region, 16,500 facilities have already been restored. According to the administration head, if there are no problems with financing in 2024 and 2025, they plan to achieve complete restoration of the region's facilities.

"The main program that gives results is eRecovery, so we are waiting for the start of its third stage. Also, thanks to the United24 initiative, 18 apartment buildings will be rebuilt in the region. More than four thousand people will return to their homes shortly," Ruslan Kravchenko said.

Ninety-seven objects are being rebuilt in the region with state funds. According to the European Investment Bank's program, 14 more objects will be restored.

The delegation visited one of the most damaged city's districts — Ukrainians did not let the enemy through, and Russians used Grads, artillery, and mortars to wipe it out. Not a single house was intact.

"We have comprehensively approached the reconstruction with the Kyiv Regional Military Administration," Markushyn stressed. "We are replacing all damaged communications: water supply pipes and drainage, electricity and gas supply, and there will be a new road with a sidewalk."

The city allocated part of the funds, and the region's military administration allocated the other part. Later, patrons also joined in. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees provided a lot of building materials for the reconstruction of this neighborhood, and the International GEM Foundation helped replace windows. The Japanese government handed over construction machinery to Irpin: two excavators and five-wheel loader excavators. In addition, the resources of the Fund for the Elimination of the Consequences of Armed Aggression, the International Organization for Migration, and United24 were also involved here.

In general, UNHCR started a program to repair houses in the Kyiv region in July 2022. Thanks to the support of the UNHCR and its partners, almost 2.8 thousand private homes have already been restored in the Kyiv region. More than 300 are in the works.

The renovation team has been working on this site since August 1, 2023, and must complete the rough work by March.

Each project was created taking into account the wishes of the building owners. 

Concrete works are not carried out in cold weather. When it's frosty, the builders work with roofs and install fittings and formwork. Facade work is also not being done during the cold season, as the technical requirements do not allow this.

Semenenko shares that their company used to build similar houses in adjacent Brovary, although not in such a quantity at once. Eighteen buildings require the same work, only the volumes are much larger. It is necessary to control people more and select the most competent crews. In general, the lack of specialists due to the war is substantial, builders share. 

Builders travel here to work from around the Kyiv region, and some live on the site in trailers. Among the workers, there are displaced people, such as concrete mixer driver Volodymyr Vorovskyi, who managed to leave the already occupied Sievierodonetsk in 2022. 

"I was in Irpin a few months after Ukraine restored control over these areas, and I was shocked by the extent of the destruction I saw," Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said. "When I came back here and saw the rebuilding of the city, full of people again, it gave me hope and witnessed how UNHCR supports the determination of people and communities to recover and rebuild."

He also emphasized that the European Union, Japan, and the United States of America are the three largest donors to UNHCR's response in Ukraine. Their contributions enabled the agency to provide assistance to victims throughout the country.

UNHCR continues to prioritize the house repair program. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, UNHCR and its partners have already completed the repair of more than 27,500 houses across the country. This number is increasing weekly. Reconstruction continues, in particular, in the Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, and Kharkiv regions.

"Our government, with the support of the Japanese people, intends to continue supporting Ukraine," said the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Japan to Ukraine, Matsuda Kuninori, in a comment to Rubryka.

This support may continue to take place in cooperation with UNHCR.

"UNHCR is an important partner in assisting Ukraine based on the principle of human security so that people can return to their hometowns and live there peacefully, carrying out economic activities," said Matsuda Kuninori, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Ukraine, speaking to journalists.

Speaking to the media, Oleksandr Markushyn, the mayor of Irpin, said that, together with the residents, with the Kyiv Regional Military Administration, and with all patrons, they have rebuilt everything possible. "I am sure that this will be one of the best streets of Irpin," Markushyn is convinced.

At the same time, he cited general statistics: Russians completely destroyed 1,500 private houses in Irpin, and damaged another 1,400.

The head of the Kyiv RMA, Ruslan Kravchenko, explains why there is uneven recovery even in neighboring communities. As an example, he cited the village of Moschun of the Hostomel community, which has some problems with the reconstruction.

Moshchun and Borodyanka were included in the comprehensive recovery program following the government's decision.

Funds have been allocated for the restoration of Borodyanka, and the first 30 to 40 facilities are being launched there. As of January 2024, no funds were allocated for Moschun.

At the same time, Kravchenko emphasized that the administration, together with the local authorities of the Hostomel community, is increasing the submission of documents by the residents of Horenka, Moschun, and Hostomel in accordance with the government program eRecovery. In his opinion, this program can become an optimal solution in the current situation.