The flooded stadium at Sports School №5 has been in this state for two months now in Mykolaiv

The football pitch at Sports School №5 in Mykolaiv has been flooded for two months now. Photo: NikVesti

In the Korabelny district of Mykolaiv, the football pitch at Sports School №5 has been flooded for two months. As a result, the children are forced to train on a reserve pitch, whilst the main pitch is effectively out of use.

This is reported by a correspondent for NikVesti.

According to the school’s director, Andrii Alifanov, the flooding problem is systemic and has been recurring for years, but this time the situation has been exacerbated by additional water discharges.

«The water has been standing for two months. There have been such flooding incidents before, but they were linked to heavy rain. There’s nowhere for the water to go; the drainage system is poor, and this stadium was built back in the 1970s. So when there’s heavy rain, the water floods the area. But now the problem is the river that runs through the stadium; it’s silted up, there’s a lot of mud in it, and it needs to be cleared. The water level rises because of the discharge into this stream, and the stadium floods. We’ve been pumping it out — we have a pump — but it can’t cope because water is constantly seeping in and flooding the pitch,» said Andrii Alifanov.

The water is up to 30 centimetres deep in some places. Photo: NikVesti

In some places, the water is up to 30 centimetres deep. Photo: NikVesti

He assured us that he had repeatedly appealed to the district administration and the Department of Housing and Communal Services, but there has been no result so far.

At the same time, training has not stopped — the school has organised sessions on another pitch.

«But this is our main pitch; we can’t train on it. And we’re currently preparing for the city and regional championships,» he said.

In Mykolaiv, the football pitch at Sports School No. 5 has been flooded for two months. Photo: NikVesti

The football pitch at Sports School No. 5 in Mykolaiv has been flooded for two months. Photo: NikVesti

It is worth noting that the problem of flooding in this area is not new. Local media reported on it over 10 years ago. At that time, water was periodically pumped out, but this did not provide a systematic solution to the problem.

In 2012, a project was developed in Mykolaiv to construct a drainage collector, which was intended to protect the Zhovtnevyi neighbourhood and Bohoiavlenskyi Park from flooding. In 2016, it received a state expert review, but subsequently required adjustments due to other infrastructure projects. Later, the Housing and Communal Services Department stated that it needed to be revised to take into account design decisions regarding the major repair of the bridge over the Vitovska Balka on Bohoiavlenskyi Avenue, the design work for which began in 2018.

As of 2026, construction work has still not begun. Responsibility for its implementation, as noted by the Korabelnyi District administration, lies with the Mykolaiv Department of Housing and Communal Services.

Furthermore, the district administration explained to NikVesti that, in accordance with the decisions of the Technical and Safety Commission, the Department of Housing and Communal Services must establish clear procedures for clearing the riverbed and submit a funding request.

«The Department of Housing and Communal Services must establish a procedure for clearing the Vitovka riverbed and submit a request to the mayor regarding the allocation of funds from Mykolaiv’s budget reserve fund,» stated the Korabelnyi District Administration.

Dmytro Bezdolny has headed the Housing and Communal Services Department since 2021. Photo: NikVesti

It should be noted that the drainage collector project was also included in the Mykolaiv Economic and Social Development Programme for 2018–2020. Its estimated length was to be 3,557 metres, and the cost — over 23.3 million hryvnias.

At the same time, the city was implementing other similar projects — notably for Ternivka and the village of Horkoho.

Regarding the latter, the Housing and Communal Services Department announced a tender four times in 2016 for 10 million hryvnias, but the tenders were cancelled. A year later, the tender was won by «Zhitloproombud-8» with a bid of over 14 million hryvnias.

Screenshot from the Prozorro website

In 2020, the Housing and Utilities Department reported that work had begun on the construction of a drainage collector in the Ternivka neighbourhood. A tender for this was announced in 2017 with a value of 12.6 million hryvnias. The contract with the contractor, who had already been paid 2 million hryvnias, was terminated. Eventually, the contract was awarded for 10 million.

Screenshot from the Prozorro website

Furthermore, even during the full-scale invasion, the Housing and Communal Services Department announced a tender three times between 2024 and 2025 for design and engineering documentation for the construction of drainage structures to protect the Pivnichnyi neighbourhood from flooding.

As a reminder, in June 2025, the management of the water utility in Mykolaiv reported that it planned to completely replace the damaged section of the sewerage collector beneath the «Strasse» market in the Namyv neighbourhood.