In the village of Promin, residents of a damaged house have been entering their flats through a window for the past four years

The entrance to the damaged block of flats in the village of Promin, photo by ‘NikVesti’

Residents of the building at 28 Promeneva Street in the village of Promin, Mykolaiv region, which was damaged by shelling, have been accessing their flats for four years via the second-floor entrance hall window, to which a wooden ladder has been attached.

This is reported in the article by NikVesti entitled «No Door Home: Residents of a Damaged Building in Mykolaiv region have entered through a window for four years».

There is no other way in: following Russian shelling, the staircases in the entrance block collapsed and the passageway was blocked by concrete slabs.

«In 2022, a shell landed right here by the entrance. The staircase collapsed, and people can’t get up past the ground floor. That’s why they built this little ladder,» explained Svitlana Hinzhul, director of the local cultural centre.

The hardest time, says resident Vitalii, was in winter. The wood would become covered in ice, but there’s still no other way home. He says that during icy spells, he had to go out with an axe or a spade and chip the ice off the stairs.

«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 the way,» he added.

The entrance has still not been repaired. Due to the damage to communal areas, flat owners are also unable to receive compensation under the «eVidnovlennia» programme.

In response to an enquiry from NikVesti, the Shevchenkove Village Council reported that, in total, residents of the building had submitted 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 are specifically linked 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 access to it is via 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.

Read also the article by NikVesti entitled «No school, no life. What is life like today in the most devastated villages of the Mykolaiv region?».

It should be noted that village heads in the Mykolaiv region report that some residents, whose homes were completely destroyed, have received housing certificates and have decided not to return to their communities.