Amid war, Kharkiv residents repair city and plan its restoration

Slava Zagoruiko walks through a battle-scarred garage in the tram depot on northeast Kharkiv’s front line. “Each hole was a hit – the large ones rockets, the smaller ones mortar or artillery,” the depot overseer says as he points out breaches in the shattered building, a home to old streetcars, including his personal favorite, a wooden tram once featured on movie sets. “The Russians thought this was a Ukrainian army base.”

Now the streetcars in and around the garage are casualties of the war, and present a daunting challenge to cleanup efforts. “Not one of these trams is undamaged,” he says. “If I were the mayor, I would not know where to start.”

But nearby, work is already underway. Dressed in camouflage pants and flak jackets, two middle-aged men coordinate efforts to