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Alexander Senkevich, the Mayor of Mykolaiv, spoke to UN Information about reconstruction efforts and the function of the United Nations amidst the specter of ongoing shelling.
“We had been bombed for 230 days, 159 individuals died, and 750 had been injured. Loads of town was destroyed as a result of there was shelling in every single place.
![Alexander Senkevich, Mayor of Mykolaiv. Alexander Senkevich, Mayor of Mykolaiv.](https://global.unitednations.entermediadb.net/assets/mediadb/services/module/asset/downloads/preset/Libraries/Production%20Library/11-7-2023_Ukraine_Nikolaev_Mayor.jpg/image1440x560cropped.jpg)
Alexander Senkevich, Mayor of Mykolaiv.
Regardless of the battle, town lived, and every little thing functioned. Even the journalists who got here to us to speak concerning the penalties of the shelling mentioned that we’re cleansing every little thing too rapidly, that they don’t have time to shoot pictures.
Some residents have already forgotten about what occurred. For some, the battle is over. However, this isn’t so easy. With public transport, for instance, individuals overlook that half of our buses had been taken to the entrance, and of those who remained, 1 / 4 had been destroyed throughout shelling.
Ingesting water
Since April final yr, now we have began utilizing water from the Southern Buh River, nevertheless it can’t be purified to a consuming stage due to the salt content material. The results of the explosion of the Kakhovka hydroelectric energy station have exacerbated this downside.
Our water consumption was positioned on the territory of the Dnipro River, 73 kilometres from town. The station was destroyed and is presently positioned under seven meters of water. We can’t resume our water provide to town from there. It is a big downside for us proper now.
UN help
We consistently really feel the help of the UN, particularly in probably the most tough moments. We meet with representatives of the UN. They consistently acquire knowledge on the wants of the inhabitants, and so they attempt to assist us. By way of UN businesses, sure wants of town are met. Now we have acquired water, meals, and different kinds of help for residents.
Threat of shelling
Earlier than the battle, virtually half 1,000,000 individuals lived in Mykolaiv. Immediately, now we have registered about 350,000 individuals within the metropolis, which incorporates about 50,000 who’ve fled right here from different elements of Ukraine.
Life is slowly getting higher. Small companies are beginning to function once more, however bigger companies nonetheless haven’t returned on account of issues with water and electrical energy. The principle concern, nonetheless, continues to be the chance of shelling.
Restoration of town
![Residential and office buildings have been destroyed across Mykolaiv. Residential and office buildings have been destroyed across Mykolaiv.](https://global.unitednations.entermediadb.net/assets/mediadb/services/module/asset/downloads/preset/Libraries/Production%20Library/11-7-2023_Ukraine_Nikolaev%205.jpg/image1440x560cropped.jpg)
Residential and workplace buildings have been destroyed throughout Mykolaiv.
Harm to town totals $860 million, based on the Kyiv College of Economics, and that is with out taking the price of new building into consideration.
The restoration of town is a decades-long course of. When the United Nations Financial Fee for Europe invited us to participate in its UN4Mykolaiv project, we had been delighted, jumped up, and voted for it with all our arms.
Our job is to not simply rebuild what was destroyed, however to rethink every little thing, to discover a new which means for all times in Mykolaiv, its financial potential, and the function of town within the new Ukraine.
Mykolaiv as gateway to Ukraine
![Municipal workers clear up the remnants of shelling in Mykolaiv. Municipal workers clear up the remnants of shelling in Mykolaiv.](https://global.unitednations.entermediadb.net/assets/mediadb/services/module/asset/downloads/preset/Libraries/Production%20Library/11-7-2023_Ukraine_Nikolaev%203.jpg/image1440x560cropped.jpg)
Municipal staff clear up the remnants of shelling in Mykolaiv.
Along with the UN, we’re engaged on each element planning the way forward for town. That is being executed not simply as a challenge for Mykolaiv, however as a world plan – a mannequin that may be utilized to different destroyed cities of Ukraine.
We wish to see a clear, lovely Mykolaiv with comfy locations for recreation, handy city infrastructure, and fashionable faculties. The individuals of Mykolaiv additionally see their metropolis as an industrial and business heart. To ensure that every little thing to be lovely and well-maintained, town must create companies and jobs.
We don’t wish to simply reside on the cash of vacationers, though we wish to create some sort of an amusement park in our south, like Legoland or Disneyland, the place not solely Ukrainians but additionally foreigners may come.
Ports are our most important funding alternative after the battle. Earlier than the battle, we dealt with as much as 40 per cent of the products that had been shipped out and in of Ukraine. We see Mykolaiv because the gateway to Ukraine. I say at negotiations with traders that Mykolaiv mustn’t solely be thought of as a marketplace for items or providers, however as a door to the market of the entire nation.
‘Metropolis of heroes’
I would like that our metropolis will not be forgotten after the top of the battle. Locals described it because the final southern outpost of free Europe; we defended it effectively. I’m very grateful for the curiosity of the UN in Mykolaiv. Mykolaiv acquired the title of the ‘hero metropolis’, however we name it the ‘metropolis of heroes’ as a result of this is applicable to all its inhabitants.”
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