The mayor of Kharkiv: "We will have to learn a lot from Israel how to live next door to an aggressor" | Israel today

"We have not been bombarded for five days. It is clear that we can still fire accurate missiles from Russian territory or attack with planes, but there is no immediate danger as there was from the first days of the war," Kharkiv Mayor Ihur Tarhov told Israel Today.

Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine, is only about 50 km from the Russian border. From day one, the city suffered not only from heavy bombing, but also from attempts by ground forces to infiltrate. That from mid-April the Ukrainians began to report on counter-attacks that gained momentum as Russian forces retreated, and yesterday the US Institute for War Research estimated that "Ukraine seems to have won the battle of Kharkiv." A similar assessment was made by British intelligence.

Residents find refuge at metro station, Photo: Reuters

Kharkiv was shelled from the first day of the war.

What were the most difficult moments?

When might it have been the hardest for you personally?

"Honestly, there were no easy moments because the bombings were all the time, sometimes up to 70 attacks a day. The city was under huge voltage, it was cold, had to provide food, electricity, gas, heating, transport medicines and medical equipment. It was especially difficult in the first waters because "The residents were in a panic and did not understand what to do. But I think Kharkiv did a decent job."

The damage to the city is enormous.

Of the approximately 8,000 high-rise residential buildings, approximately 25% were damaged.

Very many of them cannot be rehabilitated.

Along with housing, public buildings such as 108 schools, the university and the district administration building in the heart of the city also need to be rehabilitated.

35 kilometers (!) Of power lines need restoration.

But the biggest challenge of all is the situation of the residents themselves because there are still thousands living in the subway stations.

Day by day, the flow of residents returning to the city is also increasing, after about a third of them fled west when the invasion began.

A ruined residential building in Kharkiv,

"On Monday we will partially operate public transport so that businesses can start operating and people can come to work. For more than two months no one has worked in the city, so it can no longer continue. We will of course partially operate because half of our trams and buses have been destroyed. time.

"Housing, schools, kindergartens and medical institutions are our first challenge. It is too early to say how much it will cost, but certainly how many billions. At the moment the main task is to restart life in the city. I have no doubt that in the future it will look great."

Between rehabilitation and planning, in Kharkiv - the city with the highest number of Russian speakers in Ukraine - the Russian presence is also symbolically erased.

The Moscow Quarter and Moscow Boulevard were given local names, as were two deputies bearing the name of the city of Belgorod.

"And we will continue in this trend," says Tarhov, "this is the demand of the public. People do not want names related to Russia after seeing what it has done."

Kharkiv Mayor, Ihur Tarhov, Photo: From Ihor Tarhov's Telegram Channel

Is there a message you would like to convey to the State of Israel or to Israeli society?

"On behalf of the residents of Kharkiv, I thank you for all the humanitarian aid that has been sent to us. I have also been in contact with the mayor of Rishon LeZion, our twin city, and with your ambassador.

We need to think about investing in Kharkiv and I would like Israeli businesses to enter the city, both in the field of construction and in the field of high-tech.

This is very essential for us.

"But of course it's important now it's all about strengthening security. I understand we can not get the 'Iron Dome', but we have to learn a lot from Israel when it comes to defense capabilities in the home front, security, because you live in a state of constant threat. We had nothing. "That's it, and we'll have to learn a lot, from recruiting experts to understanding your defense system to learn from your experience."

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