The municipalities received vehicles and toolkits as part of U-LEAD’s project “Strengthening Local Resilience: Support for Emergency Repairs in Municipalities”. They received international technical assistance that included generators, repair tools, forklifts, minibuses and dump trucks. According to Vasyl Nevmerzhytskyi, Head of the Regional Office of U-LEAD in the Zhytomyr Oblast, each council received a personalised package based on their needs.
More than 1,000 residential buildings and more than 100 facilities of various forms of ownership have been affected in the Malyn municipality since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. In March, the enemy dropped two aerial bombs on the central square of the city and destroyed the bridge that connected the right and left parts of Malyn and linked two principal transport roads.
“The destruction caused by aerial bombs was devastating. The military recruitment office and the store next to it were completely destroyed, the church and school were damaged, and windows were blown out in the buildings nearby. The square was basically reduced to rubble,” said Pavlo Ivanenko, Deputy Mayor of Malyn.
The municipality of Malyn received material and technical assistance from U-LEAD to support their recovery and reconstruction. Initially, these were kits that included generators, mobile lights, repair tools and a loader. In 2024, they received two minibuses, a MAN dump truck, generators and toolkits.
“In April 2022, we received machinery and equipment from U-LEAD. Out of all the equipment, I’d like to emphasise the front-end loader. We used it to clear out rubble and destruction. Now the damaged infrastructure is cleared. We handed the loader over to a landscaping utility company,” said Mr Ivanenko.
Repairing the bridge connecting the city was a priority for the council. Partners from Estonia provided assistance in reconstruction.
“We basically cleared the ruins and built a new one. And this is where U-LEAD’s equipment came in handy. A mobile light was especially useful, and so was the generator. While the bridge was being built, the contractor made a temporary crossing to connect parts of the city. In the springtime, floods would heavily erode this crossing, and we had to restore it over and over. We performed all these works at night, and a mobile light helped a lot,” said the deputy chairman.
He added that “machinery, vehicles and equipment received from U-LEAD are great and indispensable in emergencies.”
This year, the received dump truck became a worthy addition to the fleet of utility vehicles. A vehicle equipped with a manipulator is well-suited for landscaping, garbage collection, etc. It was handed over to the Ekoresurs Utility Company.
One of the two minibuses was provided for use by the repair crews of the Enerhia, a water and heat supply utility company. The second one was left with the city council for representative functions, meeting delegations, driving sports teams and art groups to events at various levels, providing social support, etc.
Moreover, together with U-LEAD experts, the Malyn City Council is working on the development of design and estimate documentation for the restoration of Soborna Square, which was destroyed by the Russians.