Ukraine’s frontline cities: Rebuilding the shield of Europe

I am the Mayor of Kharkiv — a city that lives just a few dozen kilometres from the front line. Every day, I look into the eyes of people who live with a neighbour that brings death. And still, our people choose life.

I see how Kharkiv endures every Russian attack and rises stronger each time. This city doesn’t merely survive — against all odds, it builds the future, defying everything that seeks to destroy it.

Just last Friday, Russia once again struck at Ukraine’s energy system, targeting power plants, substations, and everything that gives people light and warmth. Kharkiv’s energy facilities were among the hardest hit. We face severe electricity shortages, frequent blackouts, and disruptions in water and heating. The metro now serves only as a shelter; trams and trolleybuses have been replaced with buses.

Yet across the city, municipal workers and energy crews work around the clock, repairing damage under fire to restore the basic conditions of life on the eve of winter.

In every district, we have opened Points of Invincibility — places with heat, light, tea, and, most importantly, human warmth. That is what sets us apart from the enemy: we bring life, not death. When times are hard, we come together.

Every day of this war defies normality. How can it ever be normal to wake up to explosions, to see a kindergarten with its roof blown apart, or the tearful eyes of frightened children?

Spirit of support keeps us standing

On each of those days, when shelling has long become routine, my team and I think about how to restore another power facility, how to bring people more light, or how to build another underground school where children can learn safely and freely.

Yet amid this terrible war, there are days and memories that have left the deepest mark on me.

I will never forget one of the first days of the invasion, in March 2022. We entered a basement in Northern Saltivka — the most devastated district of Kharkiv. Before the war, more than 150,000 people lived there.

In that basement, I met a four-year-old girl who had not left the shelter once in an entire month. She had not seen daylight and was paralysed by fear. Looking into her eyes, I knew that the crimes Russia was committing could never be forgiven. That moment stays with me. With all of us. Forever.

I also remember those first months when 160,000 people lived in our metro. It became a true city of its own, where we tried to preserve at least a little bit of life. We staged plays for children, gave flowers to women on March 8, held concerts and even weddings in the metro. Because we wanted to live.

That spirit and the extraordinary support from our international partners helped us endure then and keep us standing today. Kharkiv today is a different city. Outwardly scarred, but inwardly stronger, more resilient, and more humane – today about 1.3 million people live here.

As mayor, I must stand with every resident of Kharkiv, for the city that stands firm and fights back against the most brutal and inhumane aggression Europe has witnessed since World War II.

A united front of cities

The painful stories of my city can be told by hundreds of other frontline towns and communities that live and survive under relentless Russian shelling. We share the same pain and the same challenges. But we also share the same hope: to win, to rebuild, and to move forward.

That is why nearly 200 of Ukraine’s frontline cities and municipalities have joined forces to create the Association of Frontline Cities and Communities of Ukraine.

This platform is not a bureaucracy — it is a lifeline. It unites mayors, experts, and partners to share knowledge, coordinate recovery, and ensure that those who have paid the highest price for freedom are heard. It speaks with one voice, supports one another, and works to build our future together with our European partners.

I am honoured to speak as their voice — the voice of communities that endure the worst of Russian aggression yet remain the shield of Europe.

Ukraine today is being tested not only on the battlefield but in its soul.

Freedom in Ukraine is not a slogan. It is a choice to resist, practised every day under sirens and explosions; in every child’s lesson held underground; in every hospital generator that hums through the night; in every streetlight we manage to relight after another attack.

Today we understand: the war has tested our past, and recovery will test our future. When the war ends, another great challenge will begin — rebuilding.

We cannot simply restore what was destroyed. Reconstruction must mean more than rebuilding walls. It must mean safe schools for children, protected energy systems, and public spaces that restore people’s faith in life itself. Together, we must build a better future — a modern, safe, European Ukraine.

Our mission is to coordinate recovery, strengthen resilience, and deepen international cooperation, ensuring that those who live and work in our frontline communities are not just witnesses to reconstruction, but its architects.

Where Europe begins

The frontline of Ukraine lies in the east — the very place where Europe’s freedom is being defended, and where Ukraine’s European journey must begin.

When you look at Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, or Pokrovsk, you see the price of resistance. This is Europe’s line of defence. Russia’s war is not only against Ukrainian cities. It is against the democratic principles that hold Europe together. Our cities are fighting to ensure those principles prevail.

We are deeply grateful to the European Union and all our partners for standing with us. Together, we will rebuild Ukraine not as it was, but as it must become — stronger than before.

To achieve this, we need sustained support — to rebuild resilient energy systems that cannot be knocked out by missiles, and to ensure that every Ukrainian child can study safely, here at home, in Ukraine.

The Association of Frontline Cities and Communities of Ukraine stands ready to be a reliable partner in this effort — linking local needs with international expertise, ensuring transparency and efficiency, and turning recovery into lasting resilience.

Because rebuilding our cities means rebuilding the very shield of Europe.

Ihor Terekhov is the Mayor of Kharkiv and Chair of the Association of Frontline Cities and Communities of Ukraine. Founded in 2025, the association coordinates recovery, resilience, and international cooperation among Ukraine’s frontline municipalities.