--- title: "Kharkiv Mayor Terekhov: The city has 1.4 million residents; I cannot recommend that displaced persons return" description: "In an interview with RBC-Ukraine, Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov reported that the city currently has around 1.4 million residents, including 223,000 displaced persons, and does not recommend that those who left return due to security risks." date: 2026-09-18T05:50:00.000Z lang: en url: https://xab.info/en/posts/kharkiv-terehov-displaced-persons-return-safety tags: [kharkiv, terehov, idp, return, shelling, rbc-ukraine] publisher: "XAB.info" --- # Kharkiv Mayor Terekhov: The city has 1.4 million residents; I cannot recommend that displaced persons return ![Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov in front of a damaged city building](https://xab.info/media/2026/09/19/kharkiv-terehov-pereselentsy-vozvrat-bezopasnost/kharkiv-terehov-pereselentsy-vozvrat-bezopasnost-1.webp) ## 🎯 Key Points - Kharkiv currently has around 1.4 million residents, of whom 223,000 are displaced persons - Before the war, 1.56 million were officially registered, while the actual figure was around 2 million; in March 2022, about 320,000 remained - The mayor does not recommend that displaced persons return and assesses safety as "50/50" compared with Kyiv - On September 17, a drone struck the "Episenter" shopping mall, and a railway station in Kharkiv Oblast was destroyed overnight In an interview with RBC-Ukraine, Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov outlined the city's current demographic picture and spoke frankly about whether Kharkivians who left and internally displaced persons should return to the city. According to him, Kharkiv is currently home to around 1.4 million people, of whom more than 200,000 are displaced persons. At the same time, the city's head emphasized that, given the current security conditions, he does not consider it possible to give a universal recommendation to return home. ### From 320,000 to 1.4 million: population dynamics Terekhov explained that before the war, Kharkiv officially had 1,560,000 registered residents, but in fact the city was home to around 2 million people, since official statistics did not account for approximately 300,000 students, including foreign ones. In March 2022, immediately after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, about 320,000 people remained in the city — meaning roughly 80% of the population had left. Since then, according to the mayor, after the "Kharkiv operation" led by Syrskyi, four waves of return have been recorded: 800,000, 900,000, 1.1 million, and now — approximately 1.4 million people. ### 223,000 displaced persons Of the current 1.4 million residents, the mayor's data show that 223,000 are displaced persons from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, the Nikopol district, as well as from deoccupied territories and along the line of occupation. Terekhov noted that, as the city's head and as a person, he is glad for every returnee — whether Kharkivians or displaced persons — and "really wants displaced persons to become Kharkivians as soon as possible." ### Contradictory figures There is a significant discrepancy in the mayor's figures that is important to take into account when interpreting them. On the one hand, Terekhov cites the official pre-war figure of 1.56 million registered residents. On the other — he himself estimates the actual pre-war population at around 2 million people, explaining the difference by the absence of about 300,000 students in the statistics. It is from this "real" base of 2 million that he measures the current 1.4 million, noting that this is "noticeably less, though not as much as it might seem at first glance." Thus, the assessment of the degree of population "recovery" depends on which figure is taken as the baseline — the official one or the actual one. ### Security: "Kyiv and Kharkiv — 50/50" The mayor does not believe that Kharkiv has become safer. In his assessment, if Kyiv and Kharkiv are compared, the ratio is "50/50," while relatively safer, "by Ukrainian standards," are western Ukraine and Zakarpattia. "There are no absolutely safe places, and the recent attacks prove this," Terekhov emphasized. He added that the question of return has been difficult since the start of the war and there is no universal answer: "there have been terrible examples in both directions — some stayed there and died, while others came and, unfortunately, lost someone among their relatives here." Therefore, he stated that he cannot take responsibility for advising people to return. ### Shelling: shopping mall, station and gas station According to the mayor, Kharkiv and the region are constantly subjected to Russian shelling, and recently the targets of the attacks have been expanding: in addition to residential buildings and energy facilities, the Russians are striking gas stations, railway stations and shopping malls. Thus, on the morning of September 17, a Russian kamikaze drone struck the "Episenter" shopping mall in Kharkiv, injuring a female employee of the center. Last night, according to the mayor, a railway station in Kharkiv Oblast was destroyed. Against this backdrop, Terekhov assured that the city "is doing everything possible to bring people together" and that "Kharkiv is waiting for its Kharkivians." ## 🔍 Fact-Check Verification - [Should displaced persons return to Kharkiv now: Terekhov's answer](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/chi-varto-zaraz-pereselentsyam-povertatisya-1789709719.html) - Первичный источник интервью: цифры населения, волны возвращения, 223 тыс. переселенцев, оценка безопасности и отказ рекомендовать возвращение. - [Kharkiv defends itself against missiles: mayor Terekhov speaks of explosions](https://www.unian.net/war/harkov-otbivaetsya-ot-nashestviya-dronov-est-ranenye-mer-terehov-govorit-o-vzryvah-foto-novosti-harkova-12596865.html) - Контекст об обстрелах Харькова и заявлениях мэра о взрывах; согласуется с упоминанием ударов по объектам. - [Terekhov: Kharkiv risks becoming a second Aleppo without US aid](https://news.liga.net/politics/news/terehov-harkov-riskuet-stat-vtorym-aleppo-bez-pomoshti-ssha) - Дополнительный контекст об оценке рисков мэром; не противоречит основной теме, но не является источником конкретных цифр. - [Terekhov: "The Russians will not come to Kharkiv. I am sure"](https://www.pravda.com.ua/rus/news/2024/04/10/7450561/) - Ранее высказывание мэра; используется лишь как контекст позиции, не влияет на ключевые факты статьи. ## ❓ FAQ ### Q: How many residents does Kharkiv have now? **A:** According to mayor Terekhov, around 1.4 million people, of whom 223,000 are displaced persons from occupied and frontline territories. ### Q: Does the mayor recommend that displaced persons return to Kharkiv? **A:** No. Terekhov stated that he cannot take responsibility for such advice and that there is no universal answer, since there have been tragic examples in both directions. ### Q: Does the mayor consider Kharkiv safe? **A:** No. He assesses the safety of Kyiv and Kharkiv as "50/50" and notes that there are no absolutely safe places.