Kharkiv Could Become 'Another Aleppo' Without Air Defense, Mayor Warns

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov fears his city could become "another Aleppo" if it doesn't receive immediate help obtaining air defense systems, according to a Guardian article published on April 17. 

Kharkiv, with a pre-war population of 1.4 million (2021), has been under constant attacks by Russia, utilizing missiles, glide bombs, and drones. This bombardment has caused significant damage to the city's energy infrastructure and resulted in civilian casualties. At the end of March, Russia destroyed all the electric substations in Kharkiv, leaving Ukraine's second-biggest city without any power supply. 

Terekhov referenced the delayed $60 billion U.S. aid package for Ukraine, urging its swift passage to bolster the country's air defense capabilities. He emphasized the importance of these systems in "preventing a scenario similar to Aleppo" in Kharkiv, referring to the Syrian city heavily bombed by Russian forces during the Syrian civil war. 

Earlier in April, Terekhov estimated the cost of rebuilding damaged and destroyed infrastructure in Kharkiv to exceed $10 billion.