In Mykolaiv, 41 shelters accessible to people with reduced mobility have been identified: residents complain about the lack of such shelters

The entrance to one of the shelters in Mykolaiv. Photo: «NikVesti»

In Mykolaiv, the city authorities have 41 shelters on their records which, according to inspection results, are accessible to people with reduced mobility. In total, they are designed to accommodate 5,194 people.

This is stated in the response from the Executive Committee of Mykolaiv City Council to an information request from NikVesti.

Earlier, a Mykolaiv resident named Viktor contacted the editorial team at NikVesti. He explained that on 6 October he had submitted a request via the Facebook group «Contact Centre at Mykolaiv City Council», asking for the addresses of permanent shelters in his neighbourhood that are accessible to people in wheelchairs.

According to the man, the concrete shelters at public transport stops are not adapted for this purpose. However, instead of a list of accessible shelters, he received a notification that his enquiry had been closed with the status «Clarified».

«The municipal enterprise «Zakhyst» was appointed to handle the matter. The result? They simply closed the request with the status «Clarified». But the funniest and saddest thing is that there is no clarification whatsoever! If you click on this link, there is no reply or text from the local authorities — the system simply displays my own enquiry. The officials have literally «frozen up» and closed the request with nothing to show for it,» wrote the Mykolaiv resident.

He emphasised that the lack of information about accessible shelters creates additional difficulties for people with disabilities during air raid alerts.

Following this, NikVesti contacted the city council with a freedom of information request regarding the number and location of shelters accessible to people with reduced mobility.

How many accessible shelters are there in Mykolaiv?

The response stated that, as of 1 November 2026, there were 41 shelters in Mykolaiv registered as accessible to people with reduced mobility.

These include:

• 4 shelters with a total capacity of 800 people;
• 15 basic shelters for 3,929 people;
• 22 primary (mobile) shelters with a capacity of 465 people.

The city council noted that the accessibility of these facilities has been confirmed by inspection reports carried out in 2026.

Response to an information request from NikVesti

At the same time, the lists provided show that a significant proportion of these shelters are located on the premises of educational establishments, hospitals and other institutions. In particular, these include shelters in nurseries, schools, colleges and medical facilities, which are intended primarily for their pupils, staff or visitors.

For example, the list includes shelters at Lyceum №8 on Myru Avenue, Nursery School №95 on Kosmonavtiv Street, Gymnasium №64 on Architect Starov Street and City Hospital №1 on 2nd Ekipazhna Street.

At the same time, the list also includes shelters intended for the general public. In particular, the one in the residential building at 267 Sylikatna Street is designed to accommodate 200 people.

Where are the mobile shelters located?

Separately, the city authorities have provided a list of 22 primary (mobile) shelters. Most of them were installed back in 2022 at public transport stops.

Such shelters can be found, for example, on Soborna Street, Sadove Street, 3rd and 6th Slobidska Streets, near the coach station, the «Kolos» market, and on Myru and Bohoiavlenskyi Avenues.

Most of the mobile shelters are designed to accommodate 20 people. The list also includes structures near the railway station and on the premises of private enterprises.

Although these shelters are included in the list of those accessible to people with reduced mobility, the city council’s response does not explain what specific facilities are in place to ensure unimpeded access for wheelchair users.

Where to find the nearest shelter

The city council has stated that an interactive map of shelters in Mykolaiv is available on the official website. It features separate markers for facilities accessible to people with reduced mobility.

However, the information provided by the city council does not make it possible to determine how many of these shelters have fully barrier-free access specifically for people in wheelchairs, or whether they can use them without hindrance during an air raid alert.

What is known about the shortage of shelters in Mykolaiv

As a reminder, as of 1 September 2026, there were 474 shelters in Mykolaiv, out of a required total of 2,176. Of these, 222 are bunkers, 232 are basic shelters and a further 20 are mobile shelters. However, 170 of these shelters are not ready for use due to faulty equipment, flooding or being in a state of disrepair. The city council provided this information in response to a request from Suspilne.

NikVesti previously reported that the greatest shortage of shelters is in the Lisky, Namyv and Pivnichnyi neighbourhoods. Roman Vozniak, head of the city’s emergency services department, explained that these areas were built without basements, making it difficult to set up conventional shelters there. The city authorities had planned to install mobile shelters but were relying on state assistance to do so.

In December 2025, NikVesti also investigated how the situation regarding shelters in Mykolaiv had changed over nearly four years of war. At the time, residents from various districts reported that it sometimes took 10–20 minutes to walk to the nearest shelters, and that some of the shelters were closed or in poor condition.

There are also problems in Mykolaiv with access to existing shelters. In August 2026, the mayor, Oleksandr Sienkevych, ordered an inspection of them following complaints from residents. People reported that they were unable to get inside during air raid alerts.

Meanwhile, work continues in Mykolaiv to repair shelters in educational establishments. As NikVesti previously reported, since the start of the full-scale war, such work has been carried out in 92 schools, nurseries and extracurricular education centres. In total, around 207.3 million hryvnias were spent on this from the city budget and funds provided by international partners. However, due to a lack of suitable shelters, 27 nurseries in the city were unable to admit children as of August 2026.

Furthermore, NikVesti reported that the city authorities were considering the possibility of purchasing two premises for the Academy of Children’s Creativity. A special working group was set up for this purpose to assess whether shelters could be fitted out there.