"They didn't think it was Ukraine." Kharkiv mayor about what the Russians did not expect from the city - interview

I am sure that Russian aggressors never thought that the city of Kharkiv would not accept them. Apparently, they thought we would meet them with the arms open, and we met them instead of flowers, as they thought, the fire of our artillery, the courage of our Armed Forces and territorial defense soldiers. Video of the day and I can tell you that it was probably a great disappointment for them that the Russian -speaking city of Kharkiv is that way.

And that the Russian -speaking city of Kharkiv was today, is and will always be Ukraine. - I also had such thoughts that it looks like a revenge for the occupation. In what condition the city is now? If you can somehow evaluate, perhaps, as a percentage, I understand that it is all very conditional, the destruction of infrastructure, the life support of the city.

First of all, it is a water supply system, what do people need, electric, gas networks? - First of all, I want to say that Kharkiv until February 24, before the war, and Kharkiv today is a tremendous difference, because Kharkiv was always a well -groomed, clean, comfortable, beautiful city. Yes, it remains clean, but those wounds, scars that are today in the soul of every Kharkiv resident, and what is on the streets of the city today.

Yes, there is a clean city, we clean it, look after it, but such global destruction caused to us by the Russian aggressor, they are reflected in the soul by every Kharkiv resident, every person who loves the city of Kharkiv, and all Ukrainians. Speaking of dry numbers, although I do not like dry numbers, I think that people should know the truth and see those global destruction and what Russian aggressors with Kharkov have done. 30% of the housing stock is destroyed to one degree or another.

150 thousand people, Kharkiv, think about this figure, 150 thousand Kharkiv residents are left without apartments, without housing, it is, of course, awful. Speaking of our schools, kindergartens, think, 104 kindergartens are destroyed. And just yesterday the next firing of kindergarten, where our nanny, which came out of garbage and was injured, is in a hospital. I thank our doctors who save our Kharkiv people, our people. 110 schools that are destroyed, and many of them are not recoverable.

This is a real fear that the Russian aggressor creates. 53 medical establishments, polyclinics, hospitals. Therefore, the destruction that is globally in Kharkiv is not talking about the city's infrastructure and the life support of the city, but in fact, despite all this horror created by Russian aggressors, Kharkiv with water, with electricity, in Kharkiv, garbage is exported today.

Our workers work, clean the city, it is clean, but as I said, with huge scars, which are visible in the city and scars, which in the soul of each of us. - And here is your view and information about what you said, only the garden is destroyed by Russian invaders. In these institutions were only civilians? - There was no one in the kindergartens except the staff in the cut mode. However, people are used to their place of work.

Yesterday I came to this kindergarten, which was fired, there were two women. One woman is a security guard who simply protects a kindergarten, a watchman. The second is the caregiver who happens there simply alternates on the schedule. The third person who was there is a nanny who just went out and carried out the garbage. And the porch was covered by the artillery of Russian inhumans. - September 1, the beginning of the school year.

I understand that in Kharkiv everything will happen online? - First of all, we will win, clean our land and our territory from the Russian invaders. This is first and foremost Kharkiv as ever, and all Ukraine is one as ever. As for September 1, as a rule, we always made a large parade on the Square of Freedom, where there were students, students, such a carnival did. It was a wonderful spectacle that was not made in any city of Ukraine.

And so we noted on September 1, because we always sought that our children who went to school, first -graders, students remembered on September 1. Particularly concerned with first -graders, because each of us apparently remembers how he went to school, how he was trembling on a ruler, as he wanted to go to the first class, how he was led by high school students, graduates and how the first lesson took place in life. Unfortunately, Russian aggressors have deprived our children of this holiday.

But I want to be proud and joy to say that despite all the horror created by Russian aggressors, despite the constant shelling, on September 1, tomorrow we will start online training for all students. And seven thousand first -graders will be present at the first lesson in their life, which will also be held online. In fact, it proves once again that life continues, despite all the horror of war, and it once again proves that our Kharkiv residents love their city, proud of it.

This gives the confidence that we will definitely win and the victory will definitely be for us. - What do you know if the connection and the Internet are stable for these toddlers, first -graders are online in their first lesson? - We have checked all the networks where we needed, we connected the Internet. The question was not even in such a way that there was no Internet, there was a question related to how first -graders (and not only they) would learn.

This was due to the fact that many people were out of work today. They do not have the money to buy the same mobile phone or tablet, what a first -grader (and not only) can be present in the lessons can be present today. Where necessary, we helped people, parents of our children, so we will hope that all our first -graders, our children will receive quality education.

Kharkiv has always been the student capital of Ukraine, we have always been proud of our teachers, teachers, who, even today, despite all the horror of war, and when there was a pandemic, taught and taught our children. And I can tell you, children get a very high quality education in Kharkiv. - 150 thousand Kharkiv residents were left without housing.

Did these people leave the city or do you find any opportunities and reserves for them to have a roof over their heads and elementary opportunities to live? - Some people have left, someone left the boundaries of Ukraine, someone is in other areas where the situation is more secure today. But many Kharkiv residents are in the city, we settle them in other areas that are less fired. There is no area in Kharkiv today that would be absolutely safe.

However, we find reserves, dormitories, student dormitories, because today there are a lot of student dormitories that have left students because we left Kharkiv. We settle our Kharkiv residents in these dormitories, in front of us in winter and we understand that we will face the worst heating season in the history of Kharkiv. Of course, we need to have this challenge, we need to provide people with warmth, food, medicines, health care together. So we are working on it.

- Do you hope that heating will be during the winter season in Kharkiv? - It will be very difficult. And the Kharkiv residents should know that the hardest heating season in Kharkiv will be this year. But I am sure that today our utilities, communal services, who are real heroes, and our Kharkiv residents, who are real heroes, we will withstand this challenge and pass the heating season with dignity. I believe that.

- The whole country sees how the city adapts to the war, to living conditions during shelling. All Ukraine sees fortified public transport stops, where people at least from the wreckage of mines and missiles can protect themselves, their lives. If you allow, will I call it innovations in wartime that the city government can apply? -Yes, indeed, we set the first stop, now we install the stops and they will appear so-called double-use stops, stops-scattering.

Of course, today we need to think about safety, safety should be such that we can protect people. Because, unfortunately, our neighbor is such that at any moment you can expect anything you want. That is why today we make protective structures in basements, we begin to work that our schools are necessarily bombing, so that there are evacuation routes, so that people understand and children understand how they will be evacuated.

So a lot we need to review, very large lessons have raised the war and today we have to build a safety system today. And in residential buildings, public buildings, structures, and transport infrastructure. Therefore, we need to bring out the lessons that the war has raised. - About a neighbor who firing the city.

Of course, do you communicate with the Ukrainian military, how do you assess the chances of pushing the occupiers away from Kharkiv to weaken the shelling? - I will say so: of course, I communicate with our heroic military and low bow, to our heroes, who today defend our city and our Ukraine, the integrity of our Ukraine. But the question you put is to comment on anyone else as the military, especially in the face of the present.

- I know that you accumulate, collect information about what is happening not only in the city but also in the region. Can you say what is happening in the temporarily occupied territories of Kharkiv region? - The horror that happens there is, to be honest, a catastrophe.

And from the first day of the beginning of the war, when I saw the first shelling, when they began to fire residential quarters, kill people, Kharkiv, residents of the region, occupy settlements near the border with the Russian Federation, expel people from there, take away mobile phones. People were hiding in cellars, they had nothing to eat, everything was stuck, their homes were stolen, everything was robbed.

The invasion of the Horde, the Temporary Master, who quickly want to grab everything, to snatch everything and escape. In fact, the horror, the horror that is happening today in the occupied territories and people, of course, is in a state of shock, all this falsehood, which is being promoted today in Russian media today is a lie and a deception.

People are in a state of shock, everyone who could have at least an opportunity, from there, escaped or was able to evacuate to us to the city of Kharkiv, to the Ukrainian city. Or to escape from this terrible country of the Russian Federation and move in all the intent and unimaginable ways to Europe. But what people tell is a true horror they encountered. Today, many of them work with psychologists, because people need to bring people to a normal adequate condition.

The shock they suffered and hunger and cold was beaten, destroyed, mocked, it is horror. - And now you fix several people who are still trying to escape from the occupied territories? - Of course, they want to leave this nightmare, called the "Russian peace". The main thing is that they have this opportunity, they are not given that opportunity. Therefore, who has this opportunity, they run away from there, so that they do not stay there.

- And what trend, which Kharkiv residents have left, returning back to the city? And what is the position of power you say? If there is an opportunity to go? Is there an opportunity to return? It is clear that a certain number of people are necessary to maintain the life of the city, business processes, so that the city lives and functions. - Kharkiv residents return to the city. Dangerously? Yes, it is dangerous.

And always in my appeals, and when I communicate with people, I say that everyone makes a decision for himself, he returns to the city or does not return, I mean now. It is clear that after our victory, I am sure that 99. 9% of Kharkiv will return to Kharkiv. I was escorting people who went with tears in my eyes in the most serious times from the city, leaving rail, trains, wagons, I am grateful to our Ukrzaliznytsia for what they were doing and doing today.

People, standing in line, when they got into the wagon, seeing me: stay, we will definitely return, everything will be Ukraine, Kharkiv is Ukraine. This cannot but rejoice. Many people today make decisions and return to the city, this is their hometown. And the tendency to the fact that people return to Kharkiv.

- How do you evaluate the state of business in Kharkiv? It is difficult for a civilized person to live without the functioning of a business environment, it is a service area, transport, anything, food, much of everything that provides our lives with you. How will you appreciate the functionality of business in Kharkiv? - Let's break into several components. As for transport, I am sure that we at one time did when they made communal transport.

Today, for the most part, Kharkiv is not business processes, but our communal transport. Since the first days of the war, only communal transport worked, even when we had to close the subway, carried out humanitarian aid, food, medicines, our communal transport, our buses. Today, communal transport is working, in Kharkiv we made a decision to work for free. All people who are in the city are free of charge on trolleybuses, trams, our communal buses and in the subway, we have a subway.

Why did we go to it? Because people do not have money today, unfortunately, many enterprises and business enterprises, commercial enterprises are closed because people are simply afraid. In Kharkiv there are pharmacies, supermarkets, markets, part of the business. Some cafes, cafes, restaurants. Those who want and they need to work. That is why today we have fully provided people with all the necessary services that the commerce and the city may provide.

It is clear that they are in a cut volume, we understand, there is a war. But you can buy everything to make money. Today, our main task is to win as soon as possible, expel Russian aggressors from the territory of Ukraine and restart business. Today we are working hard on this and Kharkiv, of course, cheers. We will revive the city after our victory, today we have made a decision to create industrial parks, it will be created by IT parks, the industry will develop tremendous pace.