200,000 people have found refuge in Lviv, but we are on the verge of our capabilities - Sadovyy

Denys Karlovskyy - Monday,7 March 2022, 21:50

Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyy said that the capacity of city institutions to provide housing for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) is exhausted.

Source: Lviv City Council Press Service

Andriy Sadovyy, Verbatim: "Today Lviv has become a refuge for 200,000 people who moved to Lviv, hiding from bombings and missile attacks. People who have settled here receive hot food, necessary things, and we fully equip their lives and provide everything they should be provided with."

"This is an extremely heavy burden on the city of Lviv, and today we are at the limit of our capabilities."

"We need large tents so that we can support people, we need these tents to be equipped with appropriate sanitation facilities, and we need to be able to cook there. We are developing separate programs  in cooperation with specialists in education and culture, so that these children, who are with us, have the most comfortable life."

Details: Andriy Sadovyy appealed to international organisations and called for assistance for the city.

The city authorities have already managed to attract about 440 cultural and educational institutions and 85 religious communities to provide shelter to IDPs, according to Andriy Sadovyy.

The mayor of Lviv believes that prominent people and celebrities should come to the city and help in the psychological rehabilitation of people and public support, because these IDPs "survived one of the most difficult days in their lives."

For reference: the population of the city according to Ukrainian State Statistics Service before the start of the full-scale war of Russia against Ukraine was 717,655 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2021).

Background:

Most diplomatic missions moved to Lviv from Kyiv together with key personnel before the war broke out on February 24.

In addition, most people travel by train through Lviv railway station to the border with EU countries, primarily Poland, to escape the hostilities and bombing of Ukrainian cities.

Mayor Sadovyy had warned earlier that he would report to the Ukrainian Security Service about landlords who artificially inflate the price of housing during martial law.

Long traffic jams with people fleeing bombings and active hostilities conducted by the Russian aggresors lined up at the entry roads to Lviv in the first days of the full-scale war. People abandoned their cars and spent the night in the open air.

Lviv has been preparing for possible missile and air strikes by Russian invaders for the last few days.  Local authorities are protecting cultural and architectural monuments from the UNESCO World Heritage Ensemble. In particular, a statue of Jesus Christ from one of the cathedrals, which survived the Second World War, has been hidden in the bomb shelter.