Mayor Ihor Terekhov is not only defending a city under daily shelling – he is defending the idea that even in war, a city can still be human, hopeful and whole.
“This is not heroism. This is my job.”
In November 2021, Ihor Terekhov officially took office as Mayor of Kharkiv. He had plans for mobility, climate action and urban innovation. But just three months later, those plans exploded under the first barrage of Russian missiles.
“The war was a huge shock for me, as it was for many Ukrainians,” he recalls. “I didn’t believe it would happen until the very last moment. I was watching the situation but hoped that everything would remain at the level of political statements and not turn into reality. And then suddenly Kharkiv found itself in the epicentre of the war.”
Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city and just 40 kilometres from the Russian border, became one of the earliest targets. The attacks were unrelenting. “It was impossible to even count them,” says Terekhov. “Russia was launching ballistic missiles against us, using air force and invading on the ground.”
We are used to it not because it is normal. But because we have no other choice but to keep the city going, to help each other, and not to stop.
Chaos, clarity and then calm determination
From the beginning, the stakes were terrifyingly clear: protect lives, hold the city and prevent a total collapse of services.
“The first thing we did was gather every head of department – housing, water, healthcare, schools, transport. I said: I will understand if you need to evacuate. But I need to know who’s staying.”
No one left.
Instead, the people of Kharkiv got to work. The metro was converted into a shelter overnight and within days, 160,000 people were living underground. Meanwhile, utility crews patched water mains under fire, waste collectors braved the streets in bulletproof vests and hospital staff improvised operating theatres in basements.
One critical moment came when a Russian shell damaged a water line that served nearly one million residents. “We were at risk of the entire city losing water,” he recalls. “But our teams got there – under cover from the military – and repaired it in time. It was one of our biggest challenges.”
Another was food. “Flour became a real shortage,” says Terekhov. “I managed to negotiate with suppliers, and they brought flour to Poltava because they were afraid to go further, and then we picked it up there and handed it over to Kharkiv’s private bakeries to keep them running.”
A school in the metro and a childhood reclaimed
Perhaps no image of Kharkiv’s wartime life is more symbolic than its underground schools.
With conventional school shelters deemed inadequate, Mayor Terekhov proposed a radical idea to convert metro stations into classrooms. “The Kharkiv metro met all safety standards: from radiation protection to ventilation. The only problem was that no one had done it before us.”
From the very first days, children went to the metro school as if it were a real school - with excitement and smiles.
Over the course of a few weeks, five underground stations were transformed. Classrooms were partitioned. Desks, chairs, internet and lighting were installed. Cafeteria services were arranged. Mayor Terekhov even personally held meetings with parents in all districts of the city.
“It was important for me not so much to convince them as to hear them.” And what he heard were only words of support.
It was a risk, but the results were immediate. “From the very first days, children went to the metro school as if it were a real school – with excitement and smiles.”
Now, Kharkiv has gone even further – opening four purpose-built underground schools, designed from scratch to allow students to learn and play in safety. Alongside them, six metro stations continue to host hybrid learning spaces, reaching around 9,000 students and giving them back their childhood, even in war.
Lights on, trams running – A city still breathing
Even amid shelling, Kharkiv has kept its essential services running – a statement of intent as much as a matter of engineering.
One of Mayor Terekhov’s boldest wartime decisions was to make all public transport free. “Many people simply had no money in the first months of the war. They lost everything, including their homes, jobs and sometimes even their documents.
“I thought then that yes, we cannot change everything, but we can at least make life easier for those who stay in the city, despite everything.”
Since December 2022, the city has also provided free hot meals – served daily in schools and shelters – to up to 50,000 people, including pensioners, mothers with children and any other ordinary people who never thought they’d need such support.
He also remembers vividly the day streetlights were turned back on. “You should have seen people’s eyes when we turned on the street lights in the city, when it had been completely dark for more than a year.”
Even during the Second World War, flowers were planted in Kharkiv. In order not to break down. And we continue this tradition.
The moment he can’t forget
Not all memories are joyful.
Terekhov recounts visiting Northern Saltivka, the most bombed area of Kharkiv, during an evacuation. “We came to evacuate people, and among them was a little four-year-old girl. She had been living in the basement with her mother for more than a month,” Terekhov reflects. “When we told her that we were going to take her out of there, she just kept silent and looked at us with big eyes. She was afraid to go upstairs. She was afraid of the daylight itself.”
For Terekhov, this is a moment that stays with him as a reminder of how important it is to keep working for peace and rebuilding for the next generation.
Roof by roof. Block by block.
The scale of destruction is staggering. More than 12,000 buildings have been damaged, 70% of them residential. Around 160,000 residents have lost their homes. And yet, reconstruction is underway.
“Step by step, we are restoring the houses. One roof. One entrance. One facade. It does not sound like a “mega-project”, but it is a mega-belief in our city.”
Alongside basic recovery, Kharkiv is designing its future. The city is working with the Norman Foster Foundation to develop a visionary Master Plan – a blueprint for a greener, more resilient Kharkiv.
Our love for the city is almost a chemical bond. We don't need to prove that Kharkiv is the best – we know it at the DNA level.
Part of that vision includes decentralised energy infrastructure, creating an ‘energy island’ designed to operate more independently in the face of attacks. “Last spring, Russia completely destroyed our entire generation system,” he says. “This winter, we experienced three large-scale attacks on critical infrastructure. And we survived. But we must face the next winter even better prepared.”
Culture in the rubble?
One might assume the arts have taken a back seat, but not in Kharkiv.
“It is the soul of the city. After everything we’ve been experiencing, Kharkiv residents are going to theatres and exhibition spaces. However, for obvious reasons, they are now in shelters. But even there, there are full houses.”
This belief – that dignity is essential to survival – defines Terekhov’s leadership style. “It’s not enough for a person to just exist. He has to live. To feel. To cry and laugh.”
This war is about common values. And we are definitely stronger together.
Help from across the world
Throughout the war, international partnerships have been vital.
Kharkiv has active twinning relationships with 34 cities, including new ties with Leeds, Turku, Kosice, Lublin, Albuquerque and Dallas since 2022. These relationships have delivered aid ranging from generators and ambulances to medical equipment, transport vehicles and support for evacuated children.
Institutions such as the World Bank, EIB, EBRD, UN, and JICA have continued to support Kharkiv’s strategic development. The city is still building metro extensions and electrifying public transport despite the war.
Yet not all support has endured. The withdrawal of USAID activities from Kharkiv hit hard. “They were a powerful partner, and their absence is felt every day,” Terekhov says.
Still, he remains hopeful: “We are grateful to everyone who remains. The restoration of Kharkiv is a common path that we are traveling together with the world.”
Return is a choice – and a message
More than 1.3 million people now live in Kharkiv, with the population growing steadily as people return.
They are returning not because it is safe here,” he says. “But because this is their home.”
This return, he says, is the ultimate expression of trust – in the city, in its future and in one another. “Today Kharkiv is an outpost that holds the line of democracy.”
I am, without exaggeration, proud that Kharkiv has become the first and so far the only city in Ukraine to systematically work on a new Master Plan on development together with the Norman Foster Foundation.
A mayor, a neighbour, a father
Terekhov admits the war has changed him. “The war changed everyone – including me,” he says. “The war has taught us to be more sensitive to each other. I also began to listen, see and feel people differently.”
He sees his leadership not as heroism, but as shared responsibility, and being nominated for the Eurocities City Hero Award is not about individual recognition. “It is a recognition not of me personally, but of all Kharkiv citizens who hold on every day, help each other and do not give up.”
And after?
Asked what kind of Kharkiv he dreams of building, he answers without hesitation: “We will revive Kharkiv, restore every street and every house. And we will make the city even better than it was before the war – an ideal city of the future.”
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Mayor Ihor Terekhov is one of the shortlisted ‘City Heroes’ at the Eurocities Awards 2025. This year, for the first time, Eurocities member cities are involved in selecting the winners of the awards. Our members can now vote to choose the best city hero and the best city initiative.
You can view the full awards shortlist here.
Results will be announced on Thursday 5 June at Eurocities 2025 Braga.
