Ukraine says inspections found nearly a quarter of its air-raid shelters locked or unusable

Ukraine’s safety worries heightened on Saturday as it was revealed that close to a quarter of the nation’s air-raid shelters were found to be locked or inoperable during an inspection. This alarming news came to light after a woman reportedly died outside a closed shelter in Kyiv during a Russian missile attack. The Ukrainian interior ministry communicated through its press office that out of over 4,800 shelters inspected, 252 were locked and an additional 893 were declared unusable.

Simultaneously, four individuals were apprehended in an investigation into the 33-year-old woman’s death on Thursday. The suspects, who include a security guard who didn’t unlock the shelter and a local official, could face up to eight years in prison if found guilty of official negligence leading to death.

On the same day, Vitali Klitschko, the Mayor of Kyiv, informed that the city’s online feedback service has received over a thousand complaints about locked, run-down, or insufficient air-raid shelters within 24 hours of its launch. Around half of these complaints were about locked facilities, while about a quarter referred to shelters in poor condition.

According to the interior ministry, the inspection of shelters across Ukraine will continue, employing over 5,300 volunteers, including emergency personnel, police officers, and local officials.

Thursday’s Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian capital resulted in the deaths of three people, including a 33-year-old woman who died outside a locked shelter. Following the incident, 13 people were reported injured in the Dnipropetrovsk region due to shelling, while several others were potentially trapped in the rubble of a damaged residential building.

Other reports from regional officials in Ukraine noted the deaths of at least four civilians from Russian shelling within the previous 24 hours. Additionally, two boys, aged 10 and 13, were hospitalized with significant injuries after an explosive device went off in a playground.

In the Sumy province further west, an elderly man was killed by a Russian mortar shell in his garden. Russian shelling also led to two deaths in Russia’s Belgorod region across the border, as stated by the local governor.

The above claims made by regional authorities in Ukraine and Russia have yet to be independently verified.

FAQ about Ukraine Air-Raid Shelters Condition