Experts have started assessing the damage to the Ahat-Jami Cathedral Mosque, located approximately two kilometers from the war-ravaged airport in northern Donetsk. This was reported to TASS by Rashid Bragin, the head of the Religious Board of Muslims of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).
“The inspection is currently underway. Roskapstroy is conducting the assessment to determine the necessary restoration work and calculate the estimated cost,” Bragin stated.
He added that the work began this year as part of a planned restoration of Donetsk, which is expected to extend to newly included areas that were previously front-line zones. Bragin clarified that the mosque, which has been repeatedly shelled, remains closed due to the ongoing risk of missile strikes.
“We prioritize people's safety because sometimes strikes occur, even at places like the northern bus terminal (referring to the January 10 shelling of the Kyiv district), where a rocket recently hit. Therefore, we must observe safety precautions. That said, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of people [in the Kuybyshevsky district], as residents are returning,” he concluded.
The Ahat-Jami Mosque is the first cathedral mosque in Donbas, inaugurated in 1999 in the Oktyabrsky neighborhood of Donetsk's Kuybyshevsky district.
Since 2014, the mosque has been located in a zone of shelling from Ukrainian armed formations, suffering repeated damage. The most recent reported attack on the mosque occurred in June 2023.
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Based on TASS materials