More than $10 billion is needed to rebuild everything that Russian forces have damaged or destroyed in Kharkiv, city mayor Ihor Terekhov said in an interview with Liga.net media outlet published on April 1.
The mayor said the city officials have been trying to involve international partners to cover the costs, because "no city budget in the world can withstand such a burden."
"Russia is lying when it says it only hits military targets," Terekhov added. "With every attack (on the city), we have more and more evidence that this is a real genocide."
Since the outbreak of the full-scale invasion, Kharkiv has borne the brunt of Russian assaults, which intensified in recent weeks. The city's critical energy infrastructure has been decimated by Russian attacks, with "almost all" of it destroyed, according to the mayor.
The attacks destroyed a thermal power plant and all the electrical substations in Ukraine's second-biggest city, Terekhov said earlier.
The current situation for the energy industry in the city is "very difficult," according to the mayor. The humanitarian assistance centers, also known as "Points of Invincibility," work in Kharkiv around the clock.
"We have been through more rough times, and we will survive these times too," Terekhov said.
Kateryna Hodunova
