Journalists checked whether Odesa beaches are provided with shelters

Shelters on Odesa beach «Arcadia», photo NikVesti

Journalists checked the availability and accessibility of shelters on two of Odesa's most popular beaches — Arcadia and Lanzheron.

This is described in the article NikVesti and Odesa Life «A Minute to Hide: The Risky Reality of Southern Ukraine’s 2025 Beach Season».

Depending on its type, an enemy missile can reach Odesa in 1-8 minutes. Therefore, shelters should be located in close proximity to city beaches so that holidaymakers can get to them quickly.

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The journalists conducted an experiment to find out how quickly the visitors of the most popular beaches in Odesa — Arcadia and Lanzheron — could get to the shelter.

First of all, they checked whether it would be possible to quickly navigate and find a shelter using external directions. However, this proved to be problematic.

At the Arcadia beach, it took about 2 minutes to find a shelter — and this was under favourable conditions, as the journalists noted that they knew where the shelter was probably located.

At the Langeron beach, the situation was worse: the journalists searched for shelter for 23 minutes. The closest was in the hotel «M1». The hotel «Nemo» also has a shelter — it is open during the alarm, but the journalists did not see any signs leading there.

All beaches that are open to the public should be provided with shelters, says Alina, a resident of Odesa. She came to holiday in Arcadia with her children and friends.

«We are safety nuts, so it is very important for us that there is a shelter on the beach. But there are problems with this. Even here (near the Red Line resort), where would we run to if an air raid was announced?» the girl says.

She also added that more signs showing the way to the nearest shelter should be installed on city beaches.

«At the very least, there are not enough signs here, and the nearest shelter is far away. They need to be nearby because a missile takes one minute to fly. We won't even have time to run there. Our children have been taught that if the alarm sounds, they have to run for cover. That is, they cannot sit and watch,» Alina said.

Read also the article NikVesti «Mykolaiv Region Prepares Safe Vacation Zones as Beach Access Remains Closed»