Rebuilding solutions: how damaged buildings’ windows in the capital are being restored

What is the problem?

In Kyiv, no systematic data is compiled on the number of windows broken due to Russian aggression and the subsequent repairs. Instead, each district and department of the Kyiv City State Administration gathers this information independently. Private enterprises and organizations do not provide the city with this type of information either.

Many times, it can be challenging for residents to determine who is accountable for repairing windows in shared spaces and personal homes, whom to seek assistance from, and who genuinely provides aid.

What is the solution?

Rubryka sent a request to the Kyiv City State Administration and gathered information. The data collected cannot be considered systematic and are provided for generalization purposes. It is more like a compilation of facts that can help identify specific trends.

The situation in the districts is inconsistent, with some projects being funded by the local government, but not all windows have been restored.

Just a friendly reminder, residents of apartments and private houses can utilize the "YeVidnovlennia" service for compensation for repairing windows in their homes. If further assistance is needed, one can also turn to the local authorities for help.

How does it work?

The city's ten administrative districts were included in the material preparation, with responses received from nine districts and various Kyiv City State Administration departments.

In Kyiv, the city administration has instructed the utility company "Zhytloinvestbud-UKB" to be responsible for prioritizing the restoration of damaged buildings, regardless of ownership, affected due to the hostilities.

The Department of Construction and Housing of the Kyiv City State Administration is responsible for liquidating the consequences of hostilities and restoring infrastructure under martial law.

As of January 18 of this year, window structures were destroyed in 163 homes in the Holosiivskyi district, including:

• 106 communal residential buildings;
• 48 residential buildings owned by non-communal entities, companies, institutions, and organizations;
• 8 educational institutions;
• 1 healthcare institution.

Windows have been restored and repaired in the following locations:

• buildings owned by the Communal Enterprise "Management Company for the Maintenance of the Housing Fund of the Holosiivskyi District of Kyiv";
• educational institutions funded by the city budget;
• a healthcare institution using its own income;
• private apartments and residential buildings through the "YeVidnovlennia" program.

This is stated in the answer provided by the first deputy chairman of the Holosiivskyi District State Administration, Oleksandr Kolomiiets.

In the Solomianskyi district of the city, Rubryka was told that there are over 2,000 broken windows in residential buildings. These include damaged windows in apartments, common areas, balconies, and roofs.

• According to the agreement between the local communal enterprise and the Red Cross Society of Ukraine, the contracting organization ("FRAM LINE" LLC) has replaced 402 damaged windows in 28 apartment buildings.
• Some windows in an administrative building were repaired at the communal enterprise's own cost, and the roofs of nine residential buildings were also fixed.
• Moreover, about 370 windows were broken at educational institutions in this area, and the Kyiv budget covered the restoration of 85 of them.
• In 17 damaged private residential buildings in the Solomianskyi district, the windows were replaced using a combination of the owners' funds and the "YeVidnovlennia" service.

As of January 2 of this year, a total of 104 residential buildings with multiple apartments and two administrative buildings, all maintained by the utility company, were impacted by damage in the Podilskyi district.

• Most of them (88 houses and two administrative buildings) sustained damage in 2022. In 2023, 7 residential buildings suffered damage to their windows. As of this year, 22 residential buildings have already experienced damage, with 11 of them being affected more than once (window and door damage).
• According to Mykola Dubovyk, Deputy Chairman of the Podilskyi District State Administration, the "Management Company for the Maintenance of the Housing Fund of the Podilskyi District of Kyiv" communal enterprise has updates on the progress of window restoration in the stairwells of 8 residential buildings. It is important to note that this only pertains to those specific buildings and does not necessarily indicate that others have not also been restored.

• The two healthcare institutions in the district installed the broken windows themselves. Meanwhile, the funding for repairs in music schools and libraries came from multiple sources, including the local budget, development budget, and the institutions' own efforts.

As of January 16, 89 objects had been destroyed or damaged in the Obolonskyi district. These included:

• 29 apartment buildings,
• 35 private residences,

• one administrative building,

• one children's music school,

• three health and recreational facilities,
• and ten preschool, school, and industry/entrepreneurship institutions.

Most of the destruction and damage happened between February and April of 2022.

"We didn't have any statistical studies done on the number of broken windows, the proportion of repaired windows with assistance from the city, state, or residents," stated Oleksandr Sazanovych, the deputy director of the Obolonskyi District State Administration.

How was it restored?

• According to the data provided by the communal organization "Obolonskyi District Housing Fund Management Company," approximately 1,491 square meters of windows have been repaired in their managed residential buildings.
• Based on data from the Obolonskyi District State Administration's education department, 4,714,185 square meters of windows have been restored in educational institutions.

The Pechersk district authorities just notified Rubryka that there were 133 damaged windows in residential buildings under the administration of the Pechersk District State Administration and 145 in homes under different ownership.

1,154 windows damaged in Dniprovskyi district

In the Dniprovskyi district of Kyiv, 834 window units were damaged in residential properties under the control of the Dniprovskyi District State Administration. In contrast, 320 were affected in residential properties of other ownership forms.

• As of January 17 of this year, 129 units of windows, which is equivalent to 15.4%, have been repaired in buildings owned by the community with the help of charitable organizations, namely the National Committee of the Red Cross Society of Ukraine and the GLOBAL EMPOWERMENT MISSION (UN).
• On December 13 of last year, there was a significant rocket attack that caused 809 windows, totaling 3,356 square meters, to be damaged across six educational institutions in the Dniprovskyi district.
• 55 windows were installed in two local institutions using Kyiv's budget. The "Leroy Merlin Solidarity Charitable Foundation" is assisting in restoring the windows and installing slopes in one of the institutions.
• Pavlo Babii, deputy head of the Dniprovskyi District State Administration, shared with Rubryka that they have been working with foreign partners, such as UNICEF in Ukraine and the GLOBAL EMPOWERMENT MISSION fund, as well as public and volunteer organizations, to provide assistance to three educational institutions: specialized boarding school of I-II degrees No. 14 with a focus on the artistic and aesthetic subjects, special school No. 26, and specialized general school of I–III degrees No. 4.

As of January 15, 2024, the Darnytskyi district of Kyiv saw 159 objects being damaged to various extents, including:

• Forty-three high-rise residential buildings;
• Ninety-eight private residential buildings;
• Seven educational institution structures;
• Ten non-residential buildings;
• One unfinished construction project.

According to the response from the Deputy Chairman of the Darnytskyi District State Administration, Oleksandr Kovtunov, eight windows in the building's common areas were replaced in September 2023 at the cost of the city budget. However, there is no available data on any other restoration projects.

In 2022–2023, 27 residential buildings in the Desniansky district were damaged.

• Two healthcare facilities experienced damage to two facade glass units, which they restored at their own cost.
• Last year, on June 1, a massive rocket attack caused damage to approximately 130 windows (382.32 m2) at one of the primary healthcare centers in the Desniansky district.
• Furthermore, 31 glass panels on the building of the Desniansky District Administration were damaged and subsequently repaired using funds from the district's administrative budget.
• Moreover, in 2022, 208 windows in two separate kindergartens and one school were damaged and subsequently restored. In the following year 2023, an additional 228 windows were However, 220 have already been fixed. The remaining eight windows in one of the schools are slated for installation this year.

In 2022, 106 residential buildings under the care of the communal enterprise "Managing Company for the Maintenance of the Housing Fund of the Shevchenkivskyi District of Kyiv" had damaged windows measuring approximately 1,171 m2. By the end of the year, "Zhytloinvestbud–UKB" had restored windows in 56 properties with an estimated area of 721 m2.

In 2023, 618 windows across 97 residential buildings, covering approximately 1197 square meters, were damaged.

Accordin to Vitaliy Tsaran, chief of staff of the district state administration, the Shevchenkivskyi District State Administration reached out to GLOBAL EMPOWERMENT MISSION for aid in repairing residential buildings that were damaged during the armed attacks on August 30, 2023, and September 21, 2023. A total of 50 buildings, 119 apartments, and 521 windows (including those in stairwells) were impacted during this time. Thanks to the generosity of the charity, new metal-plastic windows were installed in all 119 apartments.

Additionally, the Department of Housing and Communal Services of the Shevchenkivskyi District State Administration reports that in 2022-2023, 13 privately owned buildings were damaged due to hostilities.

In the 2022–2023 fiscal year, the Shevchenkivskyi District State Administration restored 40 damaged structures, funded by the city budget totaling UAH 10,760.3 thousand. Additionally, the previous year, the Department of Urban Planning, Architecture, and Land Use of the Shevchenkivskyi District State Administration renovated windows for the stairwells in 9 residential buildings under communal ownership.

As a result of the armed aggression by the Russian Federation, multiple windows were broken in various institutions under the Department of Culture of the Kyiv City State Administration. These include the Literary Memorial Museum-apartment of Pavlo Tychyna, Kyiv Municipal Academy of Variety Show and Circus Arts, "Young Guard" Library, Kyiv Small Opera House, Bohdan, and Varvara Khanenko National Art Museum, Kyiv Art Gallery National Museum, Lesia Ukrainka, Mykola Lysenko, Panas Saksahanskyi, and Mykhailo Starytskyi National Museums, totaling 311 broken windows. The department director, Serhiy Anzhyiak, reported this information.

The city of Kyiv is funding the restoration of the windows in these cultural institutions. As of the start of 2024, 267 windows (85.85%) have been restored, with the remaining 44 to be completed in 2024.

According to the Department of Transport Infrastructure in Kyiv, eleven "Kyiv Metro" infrastructure objects were damaged on February 24, 2022. The estimated area of damage to windows, stained glass, and walls was 855.77 m² (211 units). So far, the employees of Communal Enterprise "Kyiv Metropoliten" have used their own funds to replace glass in 26.75 m² (15 units) of windows and stained glass at three locations. "Kyivpastrans" also repaired their damaged properties, including window frames and glass at several facilities such as bus park #2, bus park #8, Darnytsia tram depot, trolleybus depot #2, track services, and a dormitory at 7A Dovzhenka St. These repairs were done without using any funds from the city budget.

Does it really work?

From the data gathered by Rubryka's information request, it appears that district state administrations sometimes seek assistance from benefactors. However, in other cases, they either do not seek help or do not mention it in response to the request. Regardless, residents are encouraged to reach out to their respective administrations and inquire about the status of their homes and if there are any additional aid options available aside from the "YeVidnovlennia" state service.

Photos by Mykola Tymchenko, Rubryka