Parents demanded a shelter for the Academy of Children's Creativity in Mykolaiv

A nearly two-hour discussion at a session of the Mykolaiv City Council escalated into an argument between parents, council members, and activists. City council officials emphasized that they are only considering the issue of establishing a shelter and have not yet made any decisions regarding funding or the acquisition of a facility.

This was reported by the Center for Public Investigations, citing the online publication Intenta.

During the meeting, representatives of the parents’ committee appealed to the council members to help resolve the issue of the lack of a shelter before the start of the new school year. According to Olena Melnyk, children currently have to walk about 300 meters to the nearest shelter, even though there is a building nearby that, in the parents’ opinion, could be converted into a shelter.

Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych stated that this issue was not on the session’s agenda. He confirmed that the Academy does not have its own shelter but noted that the city currently lacks the funds to either build a new shelter or purchase the neighboring building.

Councilwoman Olena Kiselova explained that it was the parents themselves who proposed one of the possible solutions to the problem. According to her, a specially created working group is only evaluating the possibility of using the building as a shelter, and the issue of funding has not even been raised for consideration. She also stated that activists had prematurely begun accusing council members of allegedly misusing budget funds.

Deputy Andriy Yantar expressed doubts about the suitability of the premises at 40 Parkova Street, believing that due to its semi-basement location and single exit, it does not meet the requirements for a shelter. In his opinion, it would be more practical to install a modular shelter for a similar amount of money. In response, participants in the discussion emphasized that the issue of allocating funds had not yet been considered at all.

Senkevych noted that final decisions can only be made after the working group issues its conclusions and all necessary procedures have been completed.

Additionally, Gymnasium No. 16 will not yet be able to resume in-person classes. The school is short approximately 1.2–1.3 million hryvnias to equip the shelter.

Анна Бальчінос