The issue of beaches and swimming in Mykolaiv’s rivers was discussed at a meeting at Sienkevych: it is said that «it is impossible to open» them

In Mykolaiv, the issue of beaches and swimming in rivers was discussed once again; however, the city council stated that it is currently impossible to officially designate safe swimming areas. The reasons cited include a lack of funding to develop such areas, the need for demining and the installation of lifeguard posts, as well as the complex security situation caused by Russian shelling.

This was discussed during a staff meeting chaired by the mayor, Oleksandr Sienkevych, on 6 July, according to NikVesti.

The issue was raised by Valerii Vetrov, a representative of the Expert and Public Council. He pointed out that, despite the official ban, people are still going to the beaches and swimming in rivers. According to him, a proposal had previously been made to designate safe areas in the city for recreation by the water.

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«Given that it’s the summer season, people are still going out to swim and are on the beaches; we proposed designating safe areas for them to use. But I understand that this matter has stalled, and we would like to know the reason. There are no designated areas on the beaches where it is safe to relax and swim,» said Valerii Vetrov.

In response, the mayor, Oleksandr Sienkevych, stated that simply checking the shore or the water is not enough to officially open swimming areas. Such areas need to be marked out, lifeguard stations set up, staff recruited to man them, and funding allocated for this.

Read also the NikVesti article: There are no official beaches in Mykolaiv, but there are hundreds of people by the water. What’s wrong with summer holidays in the city

According to the mayor, there is no provision for such expenditure in Mykolaiv’s 2026 budget.

«To ensure safety, we need to carry out demining and set up a lifeguard station. To set up a lifeguard station, we need to recruit staff, find a location for it and allocate funds for this. No money has been set aside for this in the 2026 budget. So, the question is simply this: we are ready to do it. We just need to decide where to find the money to make it happen. And given that all our sectors are underfunded, we are currently working on identifying areas where we can cut expenditure, rather than looking for places to allocate additional funds,» said Oleksandr Sienkevych.

He added that if the city authorities designate a place for swimming, they assume responsibility for its development and safety. At the same time, the authorities can officially designate areas where swimming is prohibited and, together with the police, ensure compliance with the ban.

«It’s an important point: if we don’t ban swimming somewhere, people will swim there. If we have determined that, for example, Nyzhnii Bam is not a place for swimming, and have made it clear that swimming is not permitted there, then we will monitor compliance with this rule with the help of the police and so on. But if, on the other hand, we designate areas for swimming, then we must develop them. We have not allocated funds for this this year. Let’s hope that our community’s financial situation improves next year, and we’ll allocate funds for this. And I would ask the ‘Mykolaiv Parks’ municipal enterprise to set this aside as a separate item in their budget next year,» said Oleksandr Sienkevych.

Valerii Vetrov clarified that the discussion was not about fully opening the beaches right now, but at least about inspecting certain areas.

«There are sections that can simply be checked to ensure there are no hazardous objects present. To say there are no funds in the budget…» said Valerii Vetrov.

Mykolaiv residents swimming in the river in the Korabelny district, photo by NikVesti

Oleksandr Sienkevych replied that the city authorities can officially designate areas where swimming is prohibited. However, when it comes to places where it is safe to swim, this effectively means designating a swimming area, which requires full development.

«We can officially designate areas where swimming is prohibited. If we want to say that it is safe to swim here, that means we are designating it as a swimming area. But this involves not only clearing the area of explosive ordnance, but also other development work,» said the mayor.

The Emergency Situations Department also stated that it is currently impossible to designate safe swimming areas in Mykolaiv due to military risks. They explained that even after surveying the water area, there is no guarantee that a mine or remnants of munitions will not be carried in by the current at a later date.

«We have repeatedly emphasised that the security situation in the city remains very complex. When analysing the enemy’s use of weapons, we have observed that, within 5–10 minutes of an air-raid alert being sounded, fragments of munitions or the munitions themselves fall in our area. Therefore, to say that simply surveying the areas… We must erect protective structures, and we need to survey the water area for explosive ordnance. In discussions with representatives of the State Emergency Service, they have indicated that even after surveying the waterways today, they cannot guarantee that a mine or remnants of munitions will not be carried there by the current tomorrow. That is why we have written a letter stating that it is impossible to identify safe swimming areas in the city until the security situation improves,» said a representative of the City Council’s Emergency Situations Department.

People relaxing by the water in Mykolaiv in the summer of 2026, photo by NikVesti

It should be noted that, formally, swimming in Mykolaiv’s water bodies has been banned since 2022. This year, the city council also stated that no public recreational areas had been designated at water bodies, and that swimming remains prohibited.

At the same time, in practice, Mykolaiv’s waterfront areas continue to be used by residents as popular recreational spots on hot days. Previously, NikVesti reported that people were relaxing and swimming at Namyv, near the Varvarivskyi Bridge, at Strilka, Chaika and other sections of the coastline.

The issue of water safety has once again come to the fore following the tragedy at Namyv. On 10 June, a 17-year-old boy drowned there after jumping from the jetty into the water and failing to resurface. His body was later found by divers about 30 metres from the shore. A second tragic incident on the water in Mykolaiv, in which an 18-year-old boy died, occurred on 29 June.

This is not the first time that Mykolaiv’s city authorities have cited safety concerns as the reason for refusing to organise public spaces or mass events. At the end of 2025, Yurii Liubarov, head of the culture department, stated that the city would once again not be erecting the main New Year’s tree on Soborna Square, as large public gatherings in the city centre are inappropriate during wartime. At the same time, NikVesti reported at the time that, despite this stance, concerts, festivals and other public events were regularly taking place in Mykolaiv, notably at *8 Prychal, the DOF, the «Yunist» concert hall and Victory Park. As a reminder, on 8 June, the third season of summer concerts opened at *8 Prychal in Mykolaiv.