Ukraine starts to rebuild towns and cities even as the war rages on

  An excavator belches out fumes as it clears earth and rubble from between the train and bus stations in the Ukrainian town of Trostianets to make way for a reimagined transport hub.

Badly damaged in fighting with Russian forces almost two years ago, Trostianets is one of six settlements being rebuilt with state funds in a pilot programme to develop the skills and experience needed for a far broader reconstruction drive later.

Mayor Yuriy Bova said time was running out to breathe life back into towns, or risk losing millions of Ukrainians who could help redevelop the country to permanent exile in Europe.

"We're fighting for every person who should return; for every child who needs to return and build their future here," he told Reuters in the town, barely 30 km (20 miles) from Russia.

"To walk around and see this every day, that will morally traumatise a person," Bova said of the ruined northeastern town. "We need to restore everything, starting with cafes, libraries, factories, schools, hospitals."

Officials in Kyiv have also signaled the urgence of rebuilding Ukraine, an effort that will require hundreds of billions of dollars and involve more than quick fixes to critical sites such as hospitals, power stations and railways.

The war, however, shows no signs of abating. Short on cash, Ukraine is defending against new Russian attacks after its own counteroffensive failed to yield significant gains. Moscow has also resumed a campaign of mass air strikes on population centres far beyond the front line.

For Pavlo Kuzmenko, the mayor of Okhtyrka, a town only 20 km down the road from Trostianets that also bears the scars of heavy Russian bombing at the start of the war, resurrecting town squares is a luxury Ukraine cannot afford right now.

Officials in Okhtyrka were slow to finish clearing away the rubble on the main boulevard that was once the city hall and have not yet fixed the gutted department store across the street. Most schools, however, have been repaired with new windows, roofing or bomb shelters, thanks in large part to international donors.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/insight-ukraine-starts-rebuild-towns-070000191.html