«People can’t use it», — residents have complained about the dilapidated state of the shelter in the centre of Mykolaiv
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- Yuliia BoichenkoReporter
Residents have complained about the poor condition of the shelter at 69 Tsentralnyi Avenue in the centre of Mykolaiv. According to them, the shelter has no lighting or seating, and the contact number listed on the information board is out of service.
A post on this subject in the Facebook group ‘Contact Centre at Mykolaiv City Council’.
The condition of the shelter at 69 Tsentralnyi Avenue. Screenshot from a video
The condition of the shelter at 69 Tsentralnyi Avenue. Screenshot from a video
The condition of the shelter at 69 Tsentralnyi Avenue. Screenshot from a video«This is one of the few open shelters in the city, and it is in a state of disrepair. I don’t know who is responsible for these shelters and should be checking their condition, as no one answers the phone number listed on the noticeboard. To be precise, the number has been out of service for four months now. People cannot use the shelter because there is no lighting and nothing to sit on. I would ask you to help address this issue so that the shelter can be brought up to standard,» wrote Iryna.
The complaint has now been forwarded to the city council’s municipal enterprise «Zakhyst» for action, according to the website of the Department for Handling Citizens’ Complaints.
As a reminder, Mykolaiv’s mayor, Oleksandr Sienkevych, has instructed that shelters in the city remain open to the public during air raid alerts.
Read also: «Why do Mykolaiv residents not use the shelters? NikVesti survey».
What is the situation with shelters in Mykolaiv?
Mykolaiv is short of more than two thousand shelters, and this problem is most acute in the Lisky, Namyv and Pivnichnyi neighbourhoods. It is there that the city authorities plan to install mobile shelters, as there are virtually no permanent shelters in these areas. At the same time, Mykolaiv is counting on state support to develop its network of shelters.
During shelling, Mykolaiv residents are unable to access departmental shelters outside working hours. The editorial office of NikVesti was contacted by city residents who, during an air-raid alert, were unable to reach the shelter at 173 Tsentralnyi Avenue. All other nearby shelters also belong to institutions or enterprises managed by municipal or private organisations, and only admit people during working hours. Mykolaiv City Council has promised to raise the issue of shelter accessibility for discussion at a meeting of the executive committee.
Only 7 per cent of Mykolaiv’s shelters are open. At the same time, there is a problem with the accessibility of shelters — there are no ramps or gentle slopes. In April 2024, residents of Mykolaiv were unable to access a shelter within the «Kazka» children’s village during an air-raid alert because it was closed. The administration of the children’s village conducted an internal investigation into this incident.
This is not the first instance of shelters being locked during an air-raid alert in Mykolaiv. Shelters in the Matviivka neighbourhood, in the city’s Central District and in «Yunist» Park were also found to be locked during the attacks on Mykolaiv on 17 March. Following these incidents, the mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, urged residents to call the police if a shelter or bomb shelter is found to be locked during an air raid alert.
This material was produced within the REACH – Media Partnerships for Accountability and Trust project, implemented by International Media Support (IMS) and supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. The content reflects the views of the authors and not necessarily those of the Danish government. Denmark’s support strengthens civil society and independent media in Ukraine, including in Mykolaiv.
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