Russia's recent relentless air assault on the capital of Ukraine has revealed a shortage — and occasional mismanagement — of the most basic protection for residents: bomb shelters.
KYIV, Ukraine — A map led the team to a gated entrance of a yellow-brick building, a place designated by Ukraine’s capital city as a bunker for residents to take cover from near-nightly Russian airstrikes.
Their deaths quickly became political, the latest point of tension between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko. The mayor blamed local officials appointed by Zelensky, who he said were responsible for managing the city’s shelters. Zelensky, in response, blamed the mayor.“Russia, as the enemy, is not enough for us, we have internal enemies as well,” he told reporters.
It wasn’t until the fourth stop that officials were actually able to get inside. They stepped into a musty, dimly lit bunker, cramped with cardboard boxes, wires and construction materials. There was hardly space to sit.He considered Ukraine a world-class model in how to defend a country’s cities, rebuild broken infrastructure and keep a nation moving forward during a brutal invasion.
Part of the challenge for officials is their limited legislative ability to enforce shelter requirements, Klitschko said. Many officially designated shelters are private businesses, and the city has little leverage to force them to keep their entrances and basements open 24 hours a day. Some private businesses have raised concerns about the costs of hiring an overnight security guard and paying for needed electricity.
But Riabchuk insists the man was not the only one responsible for the failure. Residents had previously complained about the shelter, he said. He recounted a visit from Klitschko to the site days after his wife’s death, and said the mayor avoided talking to him. His mother was recorded on video screaming at the mayor.
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