Students were taken out of the shelter before the alarm was over in Mykolaiv — the management says that they did not hear the notifications due to the lack of light and communication

In Mykolaiv, parents of students of the destroyed gymnasium No. 48, who are temporarily studying at the Oleh Olzhych Lyceum, complained that the children were prematurely taken out of the shelter. The school authorities say the error occurred due to problems with the lack of light.

The parents of the 7th grade students filed a complaint to NikVesti.

The incident happened on Thursday, September 6. During the alarm, which was announced at 12:15 due to the departure of the MiG-31k fighter, the mother of one of the students tried to call her daughter and, as it turned out, at 12:37 they began to take her out of the shelter, although the alarm was lifted only at 12:48.

«On this day, there was a very terrible connection, she did not answer either telegrams or viber calls. When I called my daughter for the 10th time, she was on the stairs, coming out of the shelter, says Alla, the student's mother. I asked: «Why are you being taken out, because the anxiety is not over yet?». She replied, «We were told to get out.» I checked the information on the alarm map and in official sources — everywhere the alarm was still ongoing. After calling my daughter again, the teacher told me that the children were being returned to the shelter. We are thinking about taking the child online. We are not ready to take risks.»

The permission to take the children out of the shelter was given to the teacher by the school administration, but who exactly did not answer, the parents said.

Parents also express concern that the lyceum does not have a threat notification system. According to Oleksandr Yermolaiev, the father of one of the schoolgirls, the teachers are guided only by the messages of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration.

«The school administration relies on notifications from the regional military administration. But then there was no interruption. Accordingly, there could be no notifications. I directly asked if I could see a screenshot of the message, any evidence. They said there is none, says the man. — The repulse was 10 minutes after they took the children out. We asked our daughter and it turned out that the children in the school did not hear the alarm.»

NikVesti appealed to the institution's management with a request to comment on the incident. However, the director of the lyceum Oleksii Hurko stated that he is not responsible for the children from 48 schools, which are only based on the territory of the lyceum and use their shelter.

«I have nothing to do with the gymnasium. I am the director of the Oleh Olzhych Lyceum. We have 48 gymnasiums that rent premises. We have a cooperation agreement with them. They study here, use our shelter, but they have their own director, they are responsible for their children. I have my own children,» explained the head of the educational institution.

Oksana Kazakovtseva, the director of the destroyed gymnasium №48, explained in a comment to NikVesti that the error arose due to communication problems in the neighborhood, which were caused by a long-term lack of electricity. The teachers received an alert that appeared to be an alarm, and so the children began to be taken out of the shelter.

«I know about this situation. The fact is that yesterday in the territory of the microdistrict there was a terrible connection due to a long-term lack of electricity. It was impossible even to call someone, even the parents themselves can confirm this for you, even though the generators were working. When we were down, communication gradually began to break through. There was a notification and it seemed that it was a setback. We started to climb, and did climb 10 minutes early, but only because of communication problems. Immediately, as soon as we realized that there was still anxiety, the children came down. I will not blame any of the teachers and in no way do I absolve myself of responsibility. We will do everything to avoid this in the future. Children's safety comes first for us,» Oksana Kazakovtseva assured.

We will remind that the Mykolaiv Gymnasium №48, which was the largest school in the Korabelnyi district, was hit by a missile in the summer of 2022. It was decided to demolish part of the damaged buildings of the institution.

Read also the article: "Reconstruction of gymnasium No. 48 in Mykolaiv: what they want to build on the site of the destroyed school."