It will not be possible to return to Irpin for at least a month - mayor

KATERYNA TISHCHENKO - WEDNESDAY, 30 MARCH 2022, 16:39

Residents of the liberated town of Irpin in the Kyiv region will not be able to return to their homes for at least a month.

Source: Oleksandr Markushin, mayor of Irpin, at a briefing at the Ukrainian Media Centre

According to Markushin: "I would like to address our townspeople. Do not return to the city for now, as it is not safe. I will let you know when to come back. But you definitely can't come back in the next month."

"Give us time to deal with the enemy. There is no free Irpin without Bucha, Vorzel and Hostomel being free. Because the shelling is coming at us from there. When we liberate those cities, it will be easier for us to work on the reconstruction of the city."

Details: The mayor has warned that the city has a strict permit regime and he will not allow residents to enter so as to avoid putting them in danger.

Once the city is safe, the city authorities will still have to rebuild critical infrastructure.

Markushin said that Irpin is 100% under the control of the Ukrainian military, but is under constant shelling.

"We are constantly being shelled from the areas around Bucha, and Vorzel. Irpin is suffering from shelling from "Grads" (multiple rocket launchers), mortars, and heavy artillery, and we are partially under fire from tanks and small arms," he said.

The mayor specified that Russian troops are shelling the entire city, but especially parts of the Synergy, Stoyanka, Romanovka and SMU districts.

"It was obvious: the district nearest to Vorzel, the district on the Zhytomyr Road, around Romanovka and on the Hostomel side of town. Because these areas are temporarily occupied by Russian troops," he explained.

The mayor also said that the Russian occupiers have partially mined the city's parks, but they have already been cleared. Ukrainian specialists are now checking the forests nearby.

According to Markushin, about 3,500 residents remain in Irpin. But there could be more, as basements in the area, which had been seized by Russian troops, are now being checked.
Background: The news of Irpin's liberation from the Russian invaders became known on 28 March.