Residents of a damaged building in the Mykolaiv region have been entering their flats through the window for four years

A wooden ladder leads up to a small window on the second floor. For the past four years, residents of the damaged building in the village of Promin in the Mykolaiv region have been using it to reach their flats. There is no other way in: following Russian shelling, the staircases in the entrance hall collapsed and the passageway was blocked by concrete slabs.

Some people have moved away, but two families continue to live here. They use the ladder to carry groceries and firewood, and in winter they clear the ice off it themselves.

The entrance hall has still not been repaired. Due to the damage to the communal areas, the flat owners are also unable to receive compensation under the «eVidnovlennia» programme. NikVesti investigated why repairs have still not begun after four years and who is responsible for them.

Vitalii’s flat is on the fifth floor. After the shelling, he built the first access route to it himself — using metal pipes. Later, the residents replaced the structure with a wooden ladder fitted with a handrail.

Vitalii says they have been living like this for several years now.

«It’s been like this for four years now,» he said.

His family — his wife, daughter and granddaughter — still live in this block. Another neighbour lives on the ground floor, but gets into her flat from the other side of the building.

«She climbs over the balcony. She’s put up a ladder and goes in via the balcony. Well, I’m on the fifth floor,» says Vitalii.

As we talk by the entrance, Vitalii points upwards. A hole from an impact is still visible on the facade.

«There. A «Grad» rocket hit. It pierced right through to the fourth-floor balcony. It knocked a hole in my wall there,» he said.

Life in this building has long since ceased to be normal. There’s no gas following the shelling, so in winter Vitalii heats his flat with a potbelly stove. He also has to carry the firewood himself — up to the fifth floor using that same ladder.

«I grab two bags of firewood and lug them up there. Nobody delivers firewood to us. I go myself and chop it up. For the potbelly stove. There’s no other way,» he explained.

The hardest part, he says, was in winter. The wood was covered in ice, but there’s still no other way home.

«We support each other and make our way up. What else can we do?» he added.

When we ask if he’s not afraid of falling, he just smiles and says: «I haven’t grown wings yet.»

He says that during icy spells, he’s had to go out with an axe or a spade and chip the ice off the steps.

«We’ve sprinkled salt on it, but it doesn’t work very well. You have to go out with a hatchet or a spade, chop the ice off and clear it away,» he added.

Everyone in the village knows about this building. Svitlana Hinzhul, director of the local cultural centre, says that after the impact, the staircases collapsed, and since then people have been unable to access the flats in the usual way.

«In 2022, a missile struck right here by the entrance. The staircase collapsed, and people can’t get past the ground floor. That’s why they built this ladder,» she said.

According to her, some residents were forced to move out, as the journey home had become too difficult for elderly people.

«We have people who live in this block, but they’re currently having to stay with relatives. Because they’re elderly, it’s very difficult for them to climb up here. But two families still live here,» said Svitlana Hinzhul.

To retain at least a little heat in winter, the residents sealed the gap in the entrance hall with plastic sheeting themselves. This was intended to help not only the residents but also the building’s utilities.

«It’s dangerous to go in there because they could collapse at any moment. People covered the gap with plastic sheeting themselves to keep at least a little warmth in. Because in winter, even the drains used to freeze,» says Svitlana Hinzhul.

Compensation that’s out of reach

For Vitalii, the destroyed entrance hall is not just a wooden ladder or two bags of firewood that need to be carried up to the fifth floor. Because of it, he cannot receive the money needed to repair his own flat.

Vitalii tried to claim compensation — he submitted an application under the «e-Restoration» programme. A Russian shell damaged his flat: it pierced the balcony, grazed the floor below and destroyed the wall near the bedroom. However, his application was rejected.

«I applied for «e-Restoration». I was turned down. Because until the entrance hall is repaired, I can’t complete the paperwork,» he said.

This is precisely the catch that the building’s residents find themselves in. Their flats are damaged, but they cannot have them repaired under the state programme until the communal areas — that is, the entrance hall itself — have been restored. And the entrance hall, for its part, has remained in a state of disrepair for four years now.

In response to an enquiry from NikVesti, the Shevchenkove Village Council reported that the building’s residents had submitted a total of 17 applications under the «eVidnovlennia» programme. Seven of these were approved, nine were rejected, and one application is still under consideration.

The local authority explained that the rejections were specifically due to the location of the flats in the part of the block of flats where the communal areas have been damaged. Under the programme’s current rules, such flats do not meet the conditions for receiving compensation. This refers to the procedure approved by Cabinet of Ministers Resolution №381 of 21 April 2023.

Put simply, the state can compensate for the repair of an individual flat, but not if the route to it passes through a dilapidated entrance hall. The communal areas of the building must be restored first, and only then can residents return to the issue of compensation.

For Vitalii, this rule sounds particularly paradoxical. Formally, there is no access to his flat. In reality, he gets there every day — using a ladder, through a window, over planks laid across the collapsed stairs, and then climbing up to the fifth floor.

«They say there’s no access. But I live on the fifth floor. That woman comes down once a week, and getting back up is even harder,» he said.

To reach this flat, Vitalii and his family have to navigate a route every day that officially cannot be called «access». But it is precisely because of the lack of a safe passageway that they cannot receive the assistance needed to repair their home.

And this isn’t just about one family. Refusals within a single block mean that there are actual flats whose owners find themselves in a similar situation. Some people continue to live in damaged homes. Others have moved in with relatives or are renting alternative accommodation because they are physically unable to climb the makeshift ladder.

Why hasn’t the entrance been repaired yet?

The authorities have now carried out a technical survey of the building to assess the condition of the damaged structures and determine whether the building is fit for further use, the Shevchenkivske Village Council told NikVesti. The community has also funded the preparation of design and cost estimate documentation for the major renovation of the block of flats.

In total, the community spent 300,000 hryvnias on the technical survey and the project.

In other words, the path to restoration has begun, but so far only on paper: the condition of the building has been assessed and the renovation project has been prepared. However, construction has not yet commenced.

In its response to an enquiry from NikVesti, the village council stated explicitly that the issue of the block «remains unresolved». The community is seeking funds willing to contribute to the repairs, but the organisations with which they have already held talks are not willing to undertake the restoration of the damaged entrance block.

The official response cited «the distance from the active combat zone» as the primary reason, as the village is effectively situated on the border between the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions.

Vitalii says that over the past four years there has been plenty of talk about the possible repair of the building. Construction specialists have visited the site. Some claimed that it was no longer possible to repair the entrance block, whilst others said that the structure could be reinforced and rebuilt.

«Some say it’s being repaired. Others come along and say it isn’t. They brought a man here who specialises in repairs. He went inside and said, «It can be done.» But nobody wants to take it on. And so we’ve been like this for four years now,» said Vitalii.

For the residents, this uncertainty feels like a never-ending dispute amongst experts, the consequences of which they have to deal with themselves every day. Whilst some are deciding whether the building will be repaired or not, people are setting up ladders, covering the holes with plastic sheeting and heating their flats with potbelly stoves.

«The authorities are just feeding us empty promises,» says a resident during a conversation outside the building.

The village council, however, has stated that it is prepared to co-fund the repairs. The community can cover 20 per cent of the cost of the work, provided a fund or another partner can be found to cover the bulk of the expenses.

In its information request, NikVesti also asked for a copy of the design and cost estimate documentation for the restoration of the building or the damaged entrance hall. This was to include, in particular, the estimated cost of the work. However, the Shevchenkivske Village Council did not provide this document.

The story of the building in Promin is not just about the Russian attack. It is also about what has happened since.

Over the past four years, a technical survey has been carried out here, a repair plan has been drawn up, residents have submitted applications to «eVidnovlennia», and the community says it is looking for donors. But the entrance hall itself has still not been repaired.

There are several reasons for this, and each has a logical explanation. Certain regulations prevent compensation from being paid out whilst communal areas remain damaged. The community lacks the resources to fully fund the repairs. Donors are not yet prepared to take on the project due to its proximity to the front line.

As a result, caught between these decisions, the residents are left to use a makeshift ladder every day — a ladder that has now become a familiar part of their journey home.

Yuliia Boichenko, NikVesti