In Odessa, 10 beaches were found to be operating without a permit

Members of the Odessa City Council’s Standing Committee on Emergency Situations and Recovery, Ecology, and Digital Transformation decided to conduct a raid on the city’s beaches that are operating without a permit.

The council membersadopted thisdecision during a meeting on July 13.

As a representative of the Coastal Engineering Protection Department reported at the meeting, there are currently 10 beach areas in Odessa that have not received approval from the regional military administration and the military to officially provide services. In other words, these beaches are not operating legally. However, because the law does not allow restricting access to beaches and the water, these beach areas remain physically open. Business owners are providing services there, such as renting out lounge chairs, and the city council is effectively powerless to stop them—as officials explained at the commission meeting, they do not even have the authority to remove the lounge chairs and are forced to respond only by issuing cease-and-desist orders. Currently, the prosecutor’s office is seeking to terminate the lease agreements for these beaches in court; however, since the city’s old regulations governing beach facilities are no longer in effect and new ones have not been established, municipal services and city authorities lack the leverage to pressure business owners operating on closed beaches.

“It’s absurd that if some old lady sets up a box of cucumbers on the sidewalk, there are authorities and means to fine her and take those cucumbers away, but here we’re talking about city land, and suddenly there’s nothing,” noted commissionchairman Mykhailo Karpenchuk.

In November 2025, the “Rules for the Development andOperation of Beaches” establishedby the Odesa City Council became obsolete due to changes in legislation—the Law of Ukraine “On the Lease of State and Municipal Property” no longer allowed beaches to be leased as public amenities or hydraulic structures, as had been done under the city administration’s 2007 regulations. At that time, 30 lawsuits filed by the prosecutor’s office seeking to terminate beach lease agreements were pending in court. In 2025, more than two dozen beach areas for swimming and recreation were officially opened in Odesa. All of them passed safety inspections in accordance with wartime requirements. 

On the afternoon of June 23,26-year-old Daria Kravchenko died at one of the city’s beaches. The Kyiv woman’s partner stated his intention to seek punishment for all those involved in the tragedy. The beach was operating despite not having the necessary safety certifications. In other words, it was officially closed.

Кирило Бойко