«Deputies met in person even in shelters»: during the full-scale invasion, the Ochakov City Council did not hold a single online session

During the entire time of the full-scale invasion, the deputy corps of the Ochakiv City Council held only face-to-face sessions. Deputies gathered even in bomb shelters.

This was stated by the deputy mayor of Ochakiv, Oleksii Vaskov, on the air of the MART TV channel.

As you know, Ochakiv is subjected almost daily to chaotic shelling by the Russian military from the territory of the occupied Kinburn spit. Only yesterday, November 14, as a result of shelling of the city, the administrative building was damaged.

At the same time, the deputy corps of the city council conducts meetings and sessions of the executive committee exclusively in an offline format.

— On the territory of the district, we are part of the Mykolaiv district, the district military administration works. We (Ochakiv, — note) were not completely occupied, therefore military administration was not introduced in accordance with the law. We did not have a single session online. In our hall or in the storage, the sessions were held offline. Deputies were always present, and a quorum could be assembled. We are still working like this, — said Oleksiy Vaskov.

Currently, out of 26 deputies, including the mayor, 20 people are permanently present in the city.

— They leave, come in, but when the plenary session takes place, we vote live. Executive committee meetings are held in the same way. It was the will of the mayor and deputies. In this way, we showed our residents that the government is in place, we are not going anywhere. This is such an incentive for residents, — added the vice mayor.

It is worth reminding that during the corresponding period, Mykolaiv City Council deputies did not hold a single session in an offline format. Starting from February 24, meetings are held exclusively in zoom conferences.

According to the leaders of the factions, this will not change the quality of the deputies' work. In particular, this opinion was supported by Artem Ilyuk, Hanna Remennikova and Fedir Panchenko.

In turn, the head of the «Servant of the People» faction in the Mykolaiv City Council, Tetiana Dombrovska, emphasized the importance of the transition of the City Council's work to face-to-face mode.

The situation is similar with the deputy corps of the Mykolaiv Regional Council. The last offline session was held in March 2023, when the deputies were to elect the first deputy head of the regional council.

The head of the Mykolayiv RMA Vitalii Kim said that the deputy corps of the regional council will start to work face-to-face only when security measures are finally approved and a place with shelter is provided.