The mayor of Mykolaiv wants teenagers who damage shelters to clean the storm drains and help out at the cemetery
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Mykolaiv’s mayor, Oleksandr Sienkevych, wants to involve teenagers in community service, photo: NikVestiThe Mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, has proposed involving teenagers who damage public property in paid manual labour at municipal enterprises. According to him, this will enable them to work off the damage caused to the city.
He made these remarks during a regular staff meeting at Mykolaiv City Council, which took place on Monday 15 June, NikVesti reports.
During the meeting, the mayor referred to an incident involving teenagers who damaged equipment in a bus shelter near a public transport stop. He said the teenagers had been identified via CCTV footage, but their parents had refused to cover the costs of repairing the equipment.
As a result, the city council is preparing a lawsuit against the parents of the minors. At the same time, the mayor believes that the teenagers themselves should also be held accountable for their actions.
«The parents should pay for the repairs to this equipment on their children’s behalf; then the lesson will be complete. It shouldn’t just end with us catching them on camera and identifying them. Let them work it off,» said Oleksandr Sienkevych.
According to the mayor, the teenagers could be officially employed by municipal services to carry out manual labour and be paid for it. These funds, he suggests, could be used to compensate the city for the damage caused.
«If these children are old enough to have damaged the equipment in this shelter, we can find them work, and they can work for our municipal enterprises. They can do hard labour and be paid for it,» noted the mayor.
Among the possible options for such work, the mayor mentioned the municipal enterprise «ELU Avtodorig». In particular, he believes that teenagers could be involved in clearing storm drains in the Lisky neighbourhood.
He also mentioned the municipal enterprise ‘Ritual Service’ as another organisation where manual labour opportunities could be found.
«Conditions there are fine at the moment; the ground is soft and warm, so it’s possible to work there. I’m serious,» he said.
The mayor emphasised that such work should not only be a way to cover costs, but also a lesson in responsibility for the teenagers.
«Only through manual labour can they understand that what they did was wrong. It will also set an example for others: if you cause damage to the city, you can work it off,» added the mayor.
As is well known, cases of damage to equipment in shelters were recorded in Mykolaiv last year. In particular, a 13-year-old teenager previously deliberately damaged a CCTV camera in a temporary shelter by striking it with a hammer. His mother was held responsible for the minor’s actions — an administrative report was drawn up against her for failing to fulfil her parental duties. Last November, it was reported that a 12-year-old boy had thrown a stone at a monitor installed in a temporary modular shelter.
As reported to NikVesti by the Mykolaiv City Council, a similar incident occurred in early 2026 in one of the mobile shelters located in the centre of Mykolaiv. On that occasion, teenagers also damaged equipment in the shelter, after which the city authorities began looking for ways to hold those responsible to account.
It was previously reported that Mykolaiv has fewer than 5 per cent of the mobile shelters it needs.