Ukraine has lined up a consortium of French companies to rebuild parts of Chernihiv destroyed in the Russian invasion.

The city of 280,000 people some 100km north of Kyiv was subject to air and ground attacks at the start of the invasion, including the bombing of an apartment complex that killed 47 people.

Supported by the French government, the project will be led by engineering consultant Egis, and includes B4 Design and Engineering and software company Dassault Systèmes.

The city of Chernihiv as it was before the war (Alex Arendar/CC BY-SA 4.0)

Dassault said a virtual twin of Chernihiv will be built to decide how best to improve transportation, land use, and the location of water, sewage and other infrastructure.

Florence Verzelen, a vice president of Dassault Systèmes, added: “Virtual twin experiences enriched with expert knowledge, know-how and data enable us to explore unlimited scenarios and optimise the ones that will best answer the needs of the population, address climate change, upgrade plans for public transportation, smart services and utilities.”