Yes, this skyscraper in Kiev looks like new again today

Although the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine is ongoing, the clean-up work in the country has long since begun. In some places they have already been completed. For example, the one on the skyscraper at Valerij-Lobanowskyj-Allee 6-A in Kiev. The building was hit by a Russian missile on February 26, 2022. According to the Ukrainian news platform Novynarnia.com “Five apartments destroyed and 16 apartments damaged on the 17th to 21st floors”.

A good year later, nothing more can be seen of it, like one tweeted by Mariana Betsa, among others Before and after comparison shows. The photo showing the building with the gaping hole in the facade is dated February 2022. The photo showing the building undamaged is dated February 2023. “Recovery of Ukraine in action,” wrote the Ambassador of Ukraine in Estonia.

But not everyone wants to believe that. For example, the Russia-friendly account comments @openeysdown his retweet: “Harry Potter and the self-repairing skyscraper.” With this he indicates that he locates the repair of such damage within a year in the realm of magic. Or to put it another way: From the user’s point of view, the development shown by Betsa cannot have taken place. Since there is no hole in the building today – he argues that “it was taken by a German journalist last week” – the before version must be a fake.

The fact that the user thinks so becomes even clearer in the comments under his post. But his claim is wrong. Just like the one raised by one of his followers hint, the before and after shots may have been swapped. Both the rocket impact, the resulting damage and the repair work are well documented and can also be followed remotely.

There is no doubt that a rocket hit the skyscraper. Several videos, mainly surveillance cameras on other buildings, show the moment of the impact:

This video shows the impact from an affected apartment in the building. The scene was recorded by a baby cam:

The individual videos were all checked by the Reuters news agency and classified as compilation spread.

While there is no doubt that the building was hit by a missile on February 26, 2022, it is still unclear to this day if the house was the actual target. Since it is located near the Kiev-Zhuliany airport, it cannot be ruled out that it should have been hit.

The extent of the damage caused by the missile impact is also well documented. Various exterior views of the building hit can be found in the image databases of the agencies Reuters and AFP, as well as images showing rescuers recovering people injured in the impact. On it and also in one by the Ukrainian journalist Olga Tokariuk on twitter In the posted video you can also see a lot of debris on the street. Just like in this clip:

The foreign correspondent of the “Los Angeles Times” shared on his Twitter account a video of an apartment damaged in the impact. This is “not as destroyed as the others,” he explains in it. The ones below were completely destroyed.

A comparison with the images provided by Reuters shows that he is actually in the high-rise at Valerij-Lobanowskyj-Allee 6-A in Kiev (see photo gallery above). The living room curtains seen in the video (minute 0:04) and the striking ceiling lamp (minute 0:09) can be clearly seen through the hole in the facade.

In one distributed by Novynarnia.com Youtube video drone shots show how the rubble of the house has spread over the street and the canopy:

Repairing such a large amount of damage is a challenge. But one that is doable. There is plenty of evidence for this as well. A very detailed accompaniment of the work can be found, for example, at The-village.com.ua: Here residents, but also operators of companies, provide information about “how it is possible to live and work in the building while the demolition work is going on”. There are also pictures of individual construction steps and information on financing the work.

According to unanimous information from various media, the residents of the house decided in May 2022 to start reconstruction at their own expense. They collected donations and spent around 1.5 million hryvnia (equivalent to CHF 37,850) on removing rubble and strengthening the destroyed floors. But then it became clear during an inspection by the building authorities: the upper floors had to be demolished and rebuilt. The city of Kiev promised to cover the costs. Experts expect around 57 million hryvnia (1,438,389 francs).

How Mimikama.at citing the Ukrainian broadcaster Novyny Live, construction work picked up speed in the summer and most of it had already been restored by November. Pictures from that time confirm this, as can be seen on Novynarnia.com. According to the platform, Vitaly Klitschko, the mayor of Kiev, assured at the time that the complete restoration of the building would be completed in spring 2023. So said Oleksandr Akimov, head of the city real estate and construction company Zhytloinvestbud-UKB Dw.com. A promise that – as the before and after comparison shows – was kept.

The following time-lapse gif shows how the building has developed over the months: