Terekhov explained whether displaced persons should return to Kharkiv at this time
Currently, about 1.4 million people live in Kharkiv, including more than 200,000 internally displaced persons.
At the same time, he said that due to the security situation, it is currently unlikely that Kharkiv residents who have left the city can be advised to return home. Terekhov noted that the issue of the return of displaced persons remains tied to security in Kharkiv.
According to the mayor, before the war, 1,560,000 residents were officially registered in Kharkiv. In reality, approximately 2 million people lived in the city, as 300,000 students—including international students—were not included in the count.
In March 2022, immediately after Russia’s full-scale invasion, about 320,000 remained. In other words, roughly 80% of the population had left.
“Following the Kharkiv operation led by Syrsky, there were four waves of return: 800,000; 900,000; 1.1 million; and now—approximately 1.4 million people. If you take the two million figure as a baseline, that’s significantly fewer, though not as much as it seems at first glance,” Terekhov noted.
Of these 1.4 million, according to him, 223,000 are internally displaced persons from Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, the Nikopol district, and along the occupation line, from the de-occupied territories.
The largest number of returnees comes from Germany, Poland, and the Kyiv region.
At the same time, the mayor does not believe that Kharkiv has become safer.
“In my opinion, if we compare Kyiv and Kharkiv, it’s 50-50. Western Ukraine and Zakarpattia are perhaps safer, but that’s ‘safer’ by Ukrainian standards, of course. There are no absolutely safe places, and the recent attacks prove this,” he noted.
At the same time, Terekhov stated that he cannot advise Kharkiv residents who have left to return home right now.
“This has been a difficult question since the start of the war. Everyone has to decide for themselves; there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. I cannot take on this responsibility—there have been terrible examples on both sides: some stayed there and died, while others came here and, unfortunately, lost a loved one,” the mayor said.
At the same time, he noted that as mayor and simply as a person, he is happy to see everyone who returns—both Kharkiv residents and internally displaced persons.
“I really want our displaced residents to become Kharkiv residents as soon as possible. We’re always happy to see those who want to come here. Kharkiv is waiting for its residents. The security issue is understandable, but we’re doing everything we can to bring people together,” Terekhov added.
Shelling of Kharkiv
It is worth noting that Kharkiv and the surrounding region are constantly under Russian shelling. Recently, the Russians have been attacking not only residential buildings and energy facilities—the enemy has also begun targeting gas stations, train stations, and shopping centers.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov stated this in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.
Russia shelled 25 settlements in the Kharkiv region, damaging homes and infrastructure.
In the morning, Russian troops attacked Zaporizhzhia with strike drones. The attack caused fires in various parts of the city and resulted in damage to civilian infrastructure.
A Russian attack on Wednesday destroyed a warehouse containing Philips-branded household goods and caused significant damage to the warehouse infrastructure of the company’s logistics partner in Ukraine.
On the night of September 5, Russia launched a massive attack on Ukraine, using “Iskander-M/KN-23” ballistic missiles and 167 attack drones.
Russian occupiers attacked the “Epicenter” shopping center in Mykolaiv several times. Two people were injured as a result of the strikes, and fires broke out at the impact sites.
