Ochakiv: life and dreams of a frontline town

Olena Kozubovska
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10:19, 12 February, 2024

Stella «I love Ochakiv», photo by Nikvesti

Cafe Same Toi is one of the few establishments that has continued to work for almost two years under conditions of daily shelling from Ochakiv. Before the full-scale invasion, Ochakiv was a small resort that received thousands of vacationers annually, today it «receives» only Russian shells that fly into the city every day. The distance by water from the city to the Kinburn spit occupied by the Russian military is 5 kilometers.

Ochakiv district is the only one in the Mykolaiv region that remained partially occupied during the two years of the Great War. The shores of the once tourist town have turned into a minefield, and an unknown amount of unexploded ammunition remains in the Dnipro-Bug estuary, which separates Ochakiv and the Kinburn spit.

Cafe on the frontline: we are where we are needed

Residents of the front-line city today more than ever need something mundane and pre-war, which is what meetings with friends in a favorite cafe have become. We spoke with Alla Zavhorodnia, the owner of the Same Toi restaurant, who shared her experience of living and doing business in a city on the line of fire:

«We did not expect that we would be needed so much, we thought that the war had changed people, and they were not happy or comfortable. Even though we have few people now, we wanted to give them a piece of peaceful life, an opportunity to meet each other, to talk in a familiar atmosphere, and this gives me such joy in my soul, we are where we are needed,» says Alla Zavgorodnia.

Cafe Same Toi in Ochakiv (outside view), photo provided by Alla Zavhorodnya

On February 24, 2022, she and her daughter, like most of the city's residents, woke up to a loud explosion — the Russians hit the territory of the port in Ochakiv. Then the woman decided to leave the city: first to Mykolaiv, and then abroad. Despite the departure, the institution continued to work, and for some time the staff fed policemen and soldiers for free.

«We used all the products we had left and closed the cafe. It was the end of March, the woman recalls».

In August, Alla returned to Ochakiv. At that time, she was planning to open an establishment in Kyiv and was already looking for premises to rent, and she came home to pick up some remaining things and equipment. But she could not leave her hometown, so she resumed the work of the institution.

«When we arrived in Ochakiv, people saw us, and we, like relatives, ran to hug each other. And they were very happy, people said, we have finally arrived, we have been waiting for you so much, you are very needed here. My daughter and I cried and decided to stay. All the staff scattered to different countries, we took people from the street,» said Alla.

Alla Zavhorodnia is the owner of the Same Toi cafe in Ochakiv

Now, Alla Zavhorodnia's cafe works practically «to zero». The woman says she has enough to pay taxes and staff salaries.

«We have enough for food, that is, a very small plus. «I can't say that we are lining up, that we can afford to buy something,» the woman admits.

Alla Zavhorodnia feels her responsibility for her employees and assures that she is ready to work and live in Ochakiv until the end of the war, including because this way people have an income.

«Leaving the cafe to collapse is not an option, abandoning the refugees whom I provided with jobs is also not an option, I feel sorry for the people. Besides, we were feeding the military for a long time, so I couldn't close the cafe either. I am a prisoner of people who depend on me. Therefore, we are not going to go anywhere yet,» said Alla.

The absence of half of the city's residents is felt very strongly in business. However, Alla says: «considering how they live on the front lines, we are doing well».

Houses in Ochakiv suffer from shelling, archival photo of NikVesti

Half of the residents left Ochakiv

There is a shortage of workers in Ochakiv, and this is a big problem. And although the service and trade sector is partly working in the city, the main part of the work requires hard physical labor. As a result of the mobilization in Ochakiv, as well as in Ukraine in general, the number of civilian men has significantly decreased, Ochakiv vice-mayor Oleksii Vaskov states.

«So that there is a shortage of jobs, there is, at the same time, there are many vacancies for men, and there are not enough of them now. On the one hand, there are supposedly not enough jobs, and on the other hand, no one is working, this is the result of mobilization,» says Oleksii Vaskov.

Indeed, of the 14,000 people who lived in Ochakiv before the full-scale war, half remained. Many people left after the strike on January 9, 2023, which damaged more than 5,000 homes.

At that time, the cafe Same Toi was also damaged: the windows and doors were damaged. The authorities did not help with the restoration.

Cafe Same Toi, consequences of shelling on January 9, 2023, screenshot from Alla Zavhorodnia's video

«After January 9, when there was a strong explosion, all the windows and doors in the cafe and shop were blown away, even those that did not fly out were tilted. It's the same at home, our glazed loggia is also all crooked, it can't be opened. It stands somehow, no one touches it. I did not apply for help. And as for cafes, they said that entrepreneurs are not helped. I called the police, then all the windows in the cafe flew out, they recorded everything, but said that they would not help the entrepreneurs,» said Alla.

At the same time, the city authorities report that they are helping residents with free building materials for minimal repairs to their homes.

However, in the city, even partially, it was possible to organize face-to-face education for children. For this purpose, a bomb shelter was set up in one of the schools, which has school classrooms, a security classroom, a dining room and a gymnasium.

Alla Zavhorodnia's institution also has a basement, so you can hide there during shelling.

«We do not close during an air raid. We close the cafe when they are shelling. We have a basement, we even had the Red Cross organize a lunch, and they had exams for passing standards, trained people to provide first aid. So they first looked at all our conditions and chose us. We have a basement as a bomb shelter. When they stopped at our place, there was anxiety and they all came down,» the owner of the coffee shop told us.

It is impossible to calculate the total number of damaged objects and losses in the community today. The Kinburn spit, which is part of the Ochakiv territorial community, has been occupied by Russian troops since the beginning of the full-scale war and is completely isolated. It is from there that the enemy is shelling Ochakiv and the surrounding villages every day.

Previously, the Kinburn spit was a unique protected area, part of the national nature park «Biloberezhzhia Sviatoslav». From year to year, it received thousands of tourists, but for two years now, the protected zone has been destroyed by Russian invaders. Regular fires as a result of shelling and mining dealt an irreversible blow to the ecosystem of the Kinburn spit.

Ochakiv beach, archival photo, author Volodymyr Siliakov

Ochakiv believes in the revival of tourism

In the cafe Same Toi, two refugees from Kinubrn spit work in the kitchen. There they lost all their property.

The Russian invasion forced the inhabitants of the Kinburn spit to leave their homes and seek refuge in Ochakiv, Mykolaiv or abroad. According to the estimates of the local authorities, there are about 200 residents left on the spit, but contact with them has been completely lost.

Read the Nikvesti interview with Yevhen Poltavchuk, a resident of Kinburn Spit, who was taking people out of the occupation on his own ship under fire.

Between Ochakiv and the Kinburn spit, photo by Kateryna Sereda

In January 2023, Ochakiv began to develop a plan for the recovery and development of the community. Local authorities invited residents to submit their ideas about the future of Ochaiv. But, according to Vice Mayor Oleksii Vaskov, residents did not show activity in this survey.

Alla Zavhorodnia participated in the survey. She believes in the restoration of Ochakiv after the war:

«My idea is to restore historical buildings so that they are not in such a state of disrepair, and to pay more attention to children. So that sports schools function in the city, so that children are occupied and they don't just run around the street».

We researched the report based on the results of a public survey. In total, the questionnaire for community residents consisted of 17 questions, in particular about the current situation in the community and key problems and needs.

About 200 respondents offered their optimistic vision of the community's future. Among the answers:

«A developed city from which you don't want to leave, a Smart city, Ochakiv itself can become another pearl, like Odesa, the city needs investments and the right, honest approach to its restoration»;
«I see Ochakiv as a flourishing city on the seashore, with developed ports, tourism and health sector (possibility of using recreation centers even in winter, vats with hot sea water, air that has a great effect on people with lung and heart diseases, etc.), fisheries, which, after restoration, will be able to provide new jobs and the possibility of export (breeding of various types of fish and seafood, canned food). A city that will be able to build a theater, thereby encouraging young people to engage in acting, study Ukrainian prose and poetry, self-govern and do something remarkable. We can build homes for the elderly, thereby providing residents with new jobs and confidence in the future, because no one should face old age alone. A city with such a history and such roots is bound to be big even if its theories are small»;
«I see a developed, perfect, cultural, educated society. I see a boom in tourist historical development and improved security in space. With culture comes beauty»;
«Safe, with the right to express one's opinion to the authorities and their quick and adequate response. Places for children's physical and cultural development. A hospital with good specialized specialists in an online appointment for all specialists».

A total of 805 people took part in the survey. 92% of respondents positively assessed the prospects of the post-war development of the Ochakiv community, residents see it as «prosperous», «blooming», «successful», «touristic».

8% of participants have a negative view of recovery opportunities. Among the specific wishes, «creation of jobs», «development of tourism potential» and «overcoming corruption» are especially highlighted.

Ochakiv beach, photo by Alona Kokhanchuk

Many of the answers of the citizens regarding the future of Ochakivshchyna are based on the restoration of tourism. Mykolaiv Marinov, the deputy head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration (RMA), who before the start of the full-scale war took care of tourism issues, believes that restoring the tourism potential of Ochakiv is a matter of more than one decade.

«This is a very difficult topic, I think it is too early to talk about it. I don't want to be too optimistic and set people up for work, it's a lot of money. This includes beach and sea demining, installation of barricades. «I don't know how many more years or decades it will take,» he says.

According to him, it is possible to discuss the possibility of restoring the community's tourist and resort potential only after the withdrawal of Russian troops, at least to the administrative border of Crimea.

Kinburn spit, archival photo

«Demining the beaches is quick, it can be done in one season, demining the water area can be point-wise and cordoned off. I believe that, roughly speaking, this format of recovery will go the season. That is, we take a separate section of the beach, demine it, we also demine the water area near the beach and install a barricade,» Mykola Marinov notes.

But this will not solve the global problem of the future of tourism for the Ochakiv community.

Deputy Mayor Oleksii Vaskov adds that the Ochakiv authorities still have no idea how much the coast of the estuary, on which the city is located, is polluted by mines.

«As for demining the territories, we haven't done anything yet, because we don't even have an idea how littered our shores are,» he says.

Ambitious reconstruction plans and lack of money

Having studied the actual recovery plan approved by the local authorities, we determined that the main priorities in the recovery and development of the community are:

restoration of the housing stock and objects of social, communal, road, transport and energy infrastructure;
restoration of the structure of social protection and care for the population;
restoration of the functioning of cultural institutions;
restoration of hydrotechnical structures and coastline;
creation of new jobs;
restoration of the tourist sector of the community.

The Palace of Culture in Ochakiv was damaged as a result of shelling, photo by NikVesti

«The main thing is not just to repair or build something, but to make it better and more energy efficient. This applies to the energy sector as well as the processing of garbage, waste, and water treatment,» says the deputy mayor of Ochakiv, Oleksii Vaskov.

In general, today, 40 objects for the total amount of 1.6 billion hryvnias were added to the plan of restoration and development. Among the projects that require the largest investments:

Thermosanitation of the KNP «Ochakiv City Multidisciplinary Hospital». According to the plan, within two years, the hospital plans to replace the heating network, roof, insulation of the facade of the building, replacement of windows and doors for proper conditions for providing quality medical services. The estimated cost of such works is 120 million hryvnias.
Construction of the city embankment in Ochakiv. It is planned to carry out reconstruction of the existing road and footpath, arrangement of recreation areas, improvement of the territory, arrangement of street lighting from solar batteries. Such works were estimated at 130 million hryvnias.
Construction of a new sewage system for 100 million hryvnias. The goal is to improve the sanitary condition of the community territory, to prevent pollution of the Black Sea water area by sewage emissions.

Educational institutions:

Reconstruction of the premises of preschool educational institution №3 «Sonechko» (40 million hryvnias)
Reconstruction of the premises of the Ochakiv Lyceum at 35 Budivelnykiv street (40 million hryvnias)
Reconstruction of the premises of the Ochakiv secondary school of grades I-III №1 (10 million)

There are also ambitious plans to build a department of inpatient care for persons who have lost the ability to self-care in Ochakiv. Such a project was estimated at 12 million hryvnias.

The city authorities want to use the experience of the Netherlands, where there is a rehabilitation center that treats Ukrainian military personnel. Therefore, the community recovery and development plan provides for the construction of such a rehabilitation center. According to the document, the cost of such a project can be about 85 million hryvnias.

Rehabilitation center for military personnel in Dorn (photo: Ochakiv City Council)

But as long as the community is in the zone of active hostilities, all recovery plans will remain on paper.

Today we are not talking about capital reconstruction and large projects. Residents of the city still cannot even apply for assistance under the state program «eVidnovlennia».

Consequences of shelling in Ochakiv, photo by NikVesti

After the personal income tax (PIT), which was paid by the military and law enforcement officers, was withdrawn from the state budget at the end of last year, Ochakiv can no longer carry out any reconstruction work after the arrivals, so today the city is only completing repairs that were started before the tax was lost.

It should be noted that the income from the military personal income tax in Ochakiv was 94%, because historically the overwhelming majority of the city's population is military personnel. It was thanks to this tax that the city had the opportunity to maintain communal institutions and enterprises, to allocate funds for the current repair of damaged buildings and to make shelters.

International cooperation: declarations of intent

From time to time the mayor of Ochakov, Serhii Bychkov, visits various European cities with which he concludes cooperation agreements. Formally, the city cooperates with the Netherlands, Spain and France.

For example, on April 18 last year in Kyiv, representatives of the Ochakiv City Council, the Association of Cities of Ukraine and the Kingdom of the Netherlands signed a tripartite cooperation agreement. Later, agreements were concluded with the Dutch city of Dorn and the Spanish city of Gandia on cooperation in the fields of tourism and sports.

The Spanish partners undertook to share their experience in the development of the tourism industry, the development of beach areas, port infrastructure and passenger transportation by water transport. However, until the end of hostilities in Ukraine, such proposals remain at the level of intentions.

Mayor of Ochakiv, Serhii Bychkov, in the Spanish city of Gandia

In December, the Association of Dutch Municipalities (VNG), which deals with the community restoration project, allocated 100,000 euros in grant aid for the urgent needs of the city to help Ochakiv. The city authorities decided to spend money on a bulldozer to clear the debris.

Ochakiv City Council purchased, with the support of VNG International, a new bulldozer (photo Ochakiv City Council)

After the end of the full-scale war, it is planned to use it to arrange the banks after demining.

So, today the key prerequisite for starting the restoration of Ochakiv is the withdrawal of the city from the combat zone, accordingly, the retreat of the Russian army from the Kinburn Spit and a cease-fire. Only under this condition, foreign partners, in particular the Netherlands, are ready to support the city in reconstruction issues, and residents of Ochakiv will be able to receive compensation under the «eVidnovlennia» program and begin the process of rebuilding their homes.

Olena Kozubovska, Kateryna Sereda

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