Shelters turned into strip clubs, tattoo parlors
In Kiev judge Authorities say 19 percent of the 4,500 underground spaces are not ready for use
RFE / RL’s Ukrainian Service reports from Kherson, an important port city in the south weather attacks and states that it is difficult to defend against artillery bombardment.
Russia has amassed 130,000 troops on the border with Ukraine, and the state of bomb shelters is being studied in the country of 44 million people. Residents are being told where the Cold War-era shelters are located.
The Kherson City Council, 545 kilometers south of the capital Kiev, convened earlier this month reportnoted in that, Most of the 139 shelters have been turned into business premises – barbershops, tattoo parlors. Decades of neglect have left some unusable.
Targeted Kherson
The annexed Crimean peninsula is located 150 km north of Kherson. Ukrainian intelligence officials say Moscow has a 33,000-strong contingent in Crimea, a modern navy and a land force and weather states that it has placed weapons. Russia If it decides to capture the part of the border with Ukraine that stretches over Crimea, this port city will be the target. Russia is currently connected to Crimea by a single bridge.
Leading specialist of the Civil Defense Department of the Kherson City Council Oleh Holovati he says that, “Most shelters are in a state of disrepair.”
That is one reason that, Only 17 of the city’s 280,000 shelters are state-owned. The rest belong to condominiums or private facilities, and in some cases the documents do not indicate the owner.
“She according to We also call on citizens to demand from the heads of condominiums or service companies to restore shelters in basements. ” – Holovati said.
There are water leaks and water tanks
One of the shelters under the Naddnipryanska Pravda publishing house was found to have leaked groundwater. Others have limited access or are simply locked out.
Normally equipped shelters belong to the city. A local hospital shelter can accommodate 300 people. 300-liter water tanks, sewerage system, weather Supply lines, generators, emergency exits are said to be.
However, most basement shelters can be used for one to four hours.
If the conflict in eastern Ukraine spreads to the rest of the country, a civil defense signal will be sounded. At this time, citizens radio and they have to turn off the TVs and wait for instructions. It is mentioned in the booklet published in June last year that, Those seeking asylum must bring identity documents, water, money, medicine, and essential food.
According to official data, only 11 percent of the country’s 21,000 shelters are operational.
In large cities such as Kiev and Kharkov, underground passages and parking lots can be used as shelters.
The situation in major cities
The capital of the Kharkiv region Russia is 40 kilometers from the border with. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenski recently called the area a potential target for Russia. The shelters were audited in January. 300 shelters and About 80 percent of the 4,000 basements are said to be ready for use. An online, interactive map of shelters has been developed for the capital’s 1.4 million people.
And in Kiev judge Authorities say 19 percent of the nearly 4,500 underground spaces are not ready for use. As in Kherson, it turned out that many basements have become a business space, a strip club.
The owner of the club, located near a large stadium in the center of Kiev, promised in an interview with the media that, if the city is attacked, it will allow people to enter.
Living nearby parliament member Lesya Vasilenko wrote jokingly on Twitter that, He hopes that “in a state of emergency, face control will not be too strict.”
Source: RFE / RL
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