AreaRead the video transcript hereunfold
Returning to a destroyed home: These residents of an apartment block in Luch in southern Ukraine can only reach their apartments with the help of a ladder. You have to climb through the windows on the upper floors. House entrances and stairwells were damaged and buried by Russian missile attacks as early as April 2022. Repair and reconstruction are progressing slowly.
Dmitro Hontar, construction company manager:
»The engineers have a lot to do. That is the main problem. There are also difficulties with solutions that do not meet the standard.«
According to the mayor of Luch, rents in the surrounding region have risen sharply since the beginning of the war. Older residents in particular therefore prefer to stay in their old, damaged apartments - which is not without danger.
Asia Paramzina has also been regularly climbing the ladder into her old apartment for almost two years.
Asia Paramzina, resident:
»Before the war I lived in this apartment. Since the building was hit, this has been the only way to get home. Since I have two senior citizens and a child in my family, no one can go in there except me. The front doors are blocked, it's been the only way to get home for a year and a half.
In Ukraine, the consequences of war are obvious, especially in the countryside. While damage in large cities like Kiev is often repaired quickly and with media attention, in smaller towns houses and churches are destroyed. There is a lack of money for reconstruction everywhere. In Luch, small local companies want to repair at least some of the damage, but according to those affected, this is also failing because of the authorities.
Dmitri Hontard, construction company manager:
»Somewhere the roof is damaged, or a concrete slab is crooked and there is no way to buy a new slab. The project is subject to state inspection and without the certificate for the panel or for certain materials it is difficult. Many construction companies cannot find solutions.«
The cost of rebuilding Ukraine is estimated to be in the hundreds of billions of dollars. Money that the country itself can hardly raise - especially since there is no end to the war in sight.