It's snowing heavily, a cold wind brings tears to my eyes, my hands are stiff from the cold. The thermometer shows three degrees below zero. But hard work is being done on the half-ruined block of flats at 51 Kyivska Street in Irpin, Ukraine. The bricklayers look like misshapen Michelin men, thanks to the many sweaters, jackets and hats they have worn on top of each other.

Stopping work because of the cold? That's out of the question. "We have to hurry, people want to go back to their houses," says site manager Ivan Markosov.

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