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The high costs of repairing the capital’s many damaged buildings, which according to Kyiv mount to €70million (£59.7m), is yet another reflection of just how much destruction Russia’s full-scale invasion has brought to Ukraine’s people and economy.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Tuesday some 390 buildings have been damaged in Kyiv since the beginning of the war.
He wrote on his Telegram channel: “As a result of Russian military aggression in the capital of Ukraine, a total of 390 buildings have been damaged. Of these, 222 are apartment buildings.”
He added: “In the city, shelling and bombing damaged 75 educational institutions, of which 30 are preschools, 17 are health care centres, 11 are cultural institutions.”
City authorities have identified 20 houses in need of urgent restoration work for which the approximate cost will be €5.8m (£4.96m).
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The Kyiv mayor said the matter was discussed during an online meeting with representatives of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, “who are ready to help us in this”.
Last month, the Ukrainian government said it will seek reparations from Russia in the aftermath of the war.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Yuliya Sviridenko said on April 29 that Kyiv estimated £431.5billion worth of damage had been inflicted since Russian troops crossed the border into Ukraine on February 24 – including indirect damage to their economy.
Beyond the finances of rebuilding a nation, there are its history and culture, which international organisations are concerned the war has put at great risk.
On May 7, Mr Zelensky lamented the loss of cultural treasures in his nightly address.
After more than two months of war, he said, “nearly 200 cultural heritage sites already” had been destroyed or damaged.
Since the start of the military conflict, UNESCO has registered at least 120 instances of damage or complete destruction of cultural sites – including libraries, museums, historic buildings and religious institutions.
The Cultural Heritage Monitoring Lab, a collaborative monitoring project between the Virginia Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative, estimates damage to 191 sites from February 24 to April 2.
In April alone, UNESCO recorded more than 50 Russian assaults on heritage sites.
According to the 1954 Hague Convention, it is against international law to intentionally target cultural heritage and property in war.
With Russia and Ukraine both among the treaty’s 133 signatories, the attacks on Ukraine’s cultural institutions could serve as another piece of evidence in a potential war crimes case.
Additional reporting by Maria Ortega
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