«Either two walls or go outside.» Why didn't the Yuzhnoukrainsk authorities build a single shelter for the community in more than two years of war?

The city of Yuzhnoukrainsk, photo: NikVesti

For more than two years of full-scale war, not a single shelter was built in the city of Yuzhnoukrainsk, where, according to official data, more than 38,000 people live and where the South Ukraine nuclear power plant is located. The local authorities announce plans for their construction, but in reality they have not yet installed at least modular shelters.

Where do citizens of Yuzhnoukrainsk hide in case of threats and why the city does not see a problem in the lack of shelters, we will analyze in the report of NikVesti.

On the twenty-sixth of August, the Russian army carried out the most massive shelling of the entire Ukraine. On this day, when 127 missiles and 109 drones were fired at infrastructural and civilian objects, we are going to Yuzhnoukrainsk, a city without any shelter.

Mrs. Oksana is walking with her 6-year-old grandson on the playground near a multi-story building: «What, there hasn't been an alarm end signal yet? I don't even know.»

Oksana tells how she reacts to the threat of shelling:

«In the first days of the full-scale war, during the alarm, they went out into the vestibules, once they went to the basement of the former bank building, but there were no conditions there. The building itself is abandoned. There is no ventilation system. But people were there — they moved mattresses, blankets, suitcases there. They spent the night there. And then we all got used to it.»

According to the woman, today during the threat of rocket fire or drone attack, no one hides anywhere — only children are taken out into the corridors or behind two walls. Although almost all houses have basements, the locals do not go down there in times of alarm, because they are not equipped for the simplest shelters: there is no ventilation, it is damp and there is nowhere to sit down.

«And what to do? Where to go? Better to just go outside. You may have heard how we announce the alarm: «Go to shelter or hide in the area.» The area... Well, it turns out, it's somewhere here,» Oksana ironically points to the street.

Her grandson is already 6 years old, but he will not go to school this September. The family is not morally ready for this.

«There is a war going on. And the child is not quite ready, and we are not quite ready morally to send him to school during the war, because it is dangerous,» explains Oksana. «According to the law, he can leave at the age of seven. It's already going to be seven with a tail.»

Renovated shelter at school №3 in Yuzhnoukrainsk, photo: NikVesti

«Schools are 100% ready»

The only shelters in the Yuzhnoukrainsk community are in educational institutions — they are former shooting classes, which have not been repaired for a long time, although children go to school. All four were equipped with the simplest shelters, where you can hide in case of short-term shelling. However, they are only open to children.

Olga, the schoolgirl's mother, says that last school year children were let into these shelters, but there was no ventilation system, it was cold and uncomfortable.

«There were former shooting ranges where the school management set up shelters today. These premises were not adapted for shelter,» explains Olha. «When the children started to go down there last year, there was nothing to breathe there. On the one hand, I think that distance learning is necessary, on the other hand, I understand that I, as a mother, have no choice and the child must go to face-to-face education.»

However, the deputy mayor of Yuzhnoukrainsk, Mariia Drozdova, assures that the situation in the shelters will be better this school year, because all four have been repaired.

First, together with Mrs. Mariia, we go to school №3, the largest in the city. More than a thousand children study here. From September 1, the school will work in two shifts, because the — absolutely all of them must be accommodated.

Repair work is still ongoing at the entrance to the shelter, photo: NikVesti

New benches, which school employees have already managed to replace, photo: NikVesti

The school received a Tesla from Mykolayiv RMA last year, photo: NikVesti

«There will be enough space in the shelter for everyone,» assures Drozdova. «We made repairs here, replaced the tiles, installed stationary toilets, last year there were bio-toilets here, carried out water supply, but we also have reserves of technical water here. We have installed Tesla energy saving systems in each shelter. Now the repair is in the final stage. It remains until September 1 to replace all the old benches with new ones. And we can start offline education.»

Schools in the territory of the community, according to the Order of the Ministry of Education «On approval of the Procedure and conditions for obtaining general secondary education in communal institutions of general secondary education under martial law in Ukraine», can conduct face-to-face training. An alternative for those who are not ready for this is to study at home or enroll in distance schools.

In another school, where the senior classes will study after the education reform, preparatory work is still ongoing, but the management promises to complete it in a few days. 600 children will come to study here.

At school №2, employees are still in the process of replacing old desks with new ones, photo: NikVesti

Drozdova also adds that recently shelters in four schools were checked by the management commission of the State Production and Consumer Service of the Mykolaiv region. Her conclusion: institutions are ready to start full-time education, because they have met the basic requirements.

However, the commission has not yet sent the conclusions to the mayor's office, so it is not possible to get acquainted with the document yet.

In Yuzhnoukrainska, we inspected the shelters in only two schools, so we cannot claim that the shelters are in appropriate condition everywhere. Although where we were able to look, the shelters are visually completely ready. It is in good repair, it is not hot, the ventilation works and it is comfortable to stay there.

Renovated toilet room, photo: NikVesti

Ventilation system, photo: NikVesti

Provision of power supply in case of blackout, photo: NikVesti

The rule of «two walls» for kindergartens

Not all kindergartens of Yuzhnoukrainsk have a shelter. According to the project decision published on the website of the Southern Ukrainian Territorial Community, 4 kindergartens should start working in the city from September 1, but only two of them have the simplest shelters, which are still being repaired, although they are still being used.

It was not possible to visit shelters in kindergartens. But according to Mariia Drozdova, one of them is arranged by international partners. So far, the shelter has a poor ventilation system, homemade toilets and hand sinks.

Mariia Drozdova, deputy mayor of Yuzhnoukrainsk, photo: NikVesti

In another institution, there is a shelter, but there is a difficulty due to the specific layout of the building. To complete the shelter, it is necessary to go deeper into the ground to expand the premises — the local authorities have not yet given permission for this.

The other two kindergartens have a moderate safety zone that allows them to work without shelter, as long as the children follow the «two walls» rule in case of danger.

«But the buildings of these institutions need to be strengthened,» adds Drozdova. — Now this is being done by the construction management. Sandbags and channels will be used to strengthen the premises exactly where the children will be taken out during the alarm. These are empty corridors, there are no windows or doors nearby. Therefore, in the event of probable shelling, fragments of glass will not get there.»

The only shelters in the city are shelters in educational institutions. However, townspeople and townspeople are not allowed to go down there when there are children there.

Vacationers on the city beach on the banks of the Southern Bug, photo: NikVesti

There will be underground anti-radiation shelters, but not soon

During the conversation, city officials note that during the construction and planning of the city in 1976, no one planned to complete capital facilities, in particular, storage facilities. In case of critical cases, the city is subject to evacuation, says the acting mayor. Nataliia Misianovska, Head of the Construction and Repair Department of the South Ukrainian City Council.

«The city is located near the South Ukraine nuclear power plant. If something happens at a critical facility, all residents of the city must evacuate. Therefore, no shelters were even laid during construction. Currently, the city authorities are considering the issue of installing modular shelters on the territory of kindergartens. Not like in Mykolaiv, but with conditions suitable for children, because they are children,» says Nataliia Misianovska.

There are also no concrete shelters on the streets of Yuzhnoukrainsk. Not a single official gave a clear answer as to why the authorities did not establish such shelters in the city, not only for children, but for all residents. Although Oleh Travkin, the head of the Office for Emergency Situations, said that the mayor Valerii Onufriienko seems to be trying to solve this issue.

Oleh Travkin, head of the Office for Emergency Situations, photo: NikVesti

The authorities also cannot influence the condition of basements in apartment buildings — they are not suitable for remodeling.

«Everything there is in communications: heat, water, electricity — everything is concentrated in our basements,» Nataliia Misianovska assures. «The commissions of the State Emergency Service have repeatedly checked them, but it is really impossible to be there. If that high-rise building collapses, they won't get anyone from that basement, I'm sorry.»

However, in 2023, the community still decided that the city needed a full-fledged anti-radiation shelter. And not just one.

The first shelter will be built on the territory of Lyceum №4. According to data in the DREAM state digital ecosystem, the cost of the project will be 80.3 million hryvnias.

«The city council allocated 25 million for co-financing,» says Misianovska. «We also recently received an order that we are provided with a subvention in the amount of 84 million hryvnias. But there is no explanation when the funds will come. It will be a full-fledged shelter, not only for schoolchildren, but also for a kindergarten, which is located 50 meters from it.»

The authorities want to build large underground shelters in these institutions, photo: NikVesti

In these institutions, the authorities want to build large underground shelters, photo: NikVesti

Another anti-radiation shelter will be built for the Yuzhnoukrainsk multidisciplinary hospital. So far, the authorities do not know where to get the money for this.

Now the management is at the stage of developing project and estimate documentation, says Nataliia Misianovska.

However, the construction of the hospital was delayed, because only at the last session of the city council, the authority of the customer was given to the management. Geological and geodetic studies have already been conducted, project and estimate documentation is still being developed. The management hopes that next year money for the construction will be provided from the state budget.

But in any case, you shouldn't count on the fact that underground shelters will appear in the city next year. According to the calculations of the construction and repair department, it will be possible to complete the work in 2026 at the earliest.

«But I'm not sure,» adds Nataliia Misianovska. — The problem is not so much with us as with the tender procedure. If everything is determined and formalized by the contractor quickly, then there are no questions. But procurement is difficult. Contractors do not pay attention to the technical task, submit incorrect documents, do not add something. In addition, there are very few contractors. No one wants to lose their people, because Territorial Procurement Center employees will come and mobilize these men.»

The lack of shelters in the city of Yuzhnoukrainsk during the war can be explained by several factors.

First, during the war, representatives of the local authorities did not show sufficient initiative and efficiency neither in solving the issue of building new shelters, nor in installing modular protective blocks around the city, although they had time to do so.

The city has installed the simplest shelters in schools and plans to make them in kindergartens, but the local population cannot use them during the educational process. Despite the fact that according to the planning and density of Yuzhnoukrainska, there were not enough places for new construction, according to city council officials, the authorities are still implementing the project of building underground shelters. But it can take years.

The residents themselves and some local activists treat the government's plans with distrust. The latter, in particular, cannot understand the choice of construction locations and believe that in the case of the anti-radiation shelter project in the hospital, which is located on the outskirts of the city, the authorities have an agreement with the management of the medical institution.

In any case, today, in the conditions of a military threat, the inhabitants of the atomic city still remain without adequate protection.

Alisa Melik-Adamian, NikVesti

We created this material as a member of the Recovery Window Network. Find out everything about the restoration of the affected regions of Ukraine on the single recovery.win platform.