Destroyed house in Irpin/Channel 24, Valentina Polishchuk
Ukraine does not yet have a single mechanism for compensating the damage caused by Russian aggression to our country, its economy and citizens. While the authorities are working on it, many Ukrainians found themselves without their own housing.
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A terrible situation has developed in Irpin, Kyiv region, which has suffered greatly from the Russian occupiers. The journalists of the Channel 24 website learned about how the residents of the city are trying to save their home.
The war forced them to leave their home twice
Because of the war that Russia started against Ukraine, in 2014 Andrey and his mother Elena were forced to leave their hometown of Pervomaisk, Luhansk region, which for many years was under the control of the so-called pseudo-republic. The family lived in the city of Gorsky for six and a half years, but the war came there in 2022.
The man said that all these years he had worked fruitfully and hard to buy the coveted house in a quiet and cozy corner of Ukraine.
I denied myself my personal life, new things, some ordinary human pleasures. I wanted to collect for my housing, he said.
Andrey moved from the Luhansk region to Irpen, where the war caught him for the second time/Photo of Channel 24, Valentina Polishchuk
“Now I have one flash drive and a pencil again”
In 2020, Andrey moved to Irpin, where he bought an apartment and began to make repairs. And until recently, his mother Elena remained in Gorskoye. The woman said that in Pervomaisk she worked at a state enterprise. And after 2014, I had to restore everything again.
When I came to work, I had one flash drive and a pencil. We worked for eight years, and then a full-scale war broke out. Now I have one flash drive and a pencil again,” the woman said.
Elena was forced to run away from the war for the second time, like her son Andrei. They just did it separately. He left the encircled Irpin, and she left the shelling in Gorskoye.
Elena was forced to leave her parental home in Pervomaisk and Gorsky, in the Lugansk region/Photo of Channel 24, Valentina Polishchuk
War we started a little earlier. On February 21 Stanytsia Luhanska and the school were shelled. They announced that the so-called quasi-republic became independent, the woman recalled.
21 days under shelling
On February 24, active hostilities began in Gorskoye. According to Elena, the shelling continued from morning until evening.
The woman had to sleep on the bathroom floor, because there are no windows. And there was always a dog, a cat, a bag with things, documents, water and medicines nearby. In this mode, Elena lived for 21 days and did not go outside for a day. After that, I decided to leave.
At first, there was still some medicine and food in the city. And then the connection, water and light disappeared altogether. Life there was terrible. It is difficult for me to say what kind of physical and mental state people have there now, including my relatives. Why people didn't leave, I don't know. But they probably don't even know what they're doing. They sleep in basements, where it is dirty and dusty,” the woman added.
Elena noted that it is very difficult to constantly lose a house. However, despite her age, she thinks of starting life anew.
History repeats itself
Good nature, quiet town, young population. This is exactly how Andrey saw the city of the Kyiv region when he first visited Irpin. . We bought a stove, a bathroom. Everything is as it should be, so that once and for all, let's say so. And then history repeated itself. Before the New Year, we also buy tiles, sanitary ware, a washbasin, and the war begins,” the source noted.
On February 24, the Russian invasion began, Andrey convinced all his neighbors in the house to leave immediately.
From enemy shells in the house where Andrei lived, the roof, the third and fourth floors, and the slabs were completely destroyed. Now in the apartment you can see the water flowing down from the upper floors.
When we returned, we saw that the new renovation was completely ruined, the windows were burned, the clothes were ruined . New things and household appliances began to rust due to high moisture and rain. Water flows directly to the first floor. There are no windows, no roof. Each apartment has puddles. No communications work here,” he said.
House after enemy shelling/Photo of Channel 24, Valentina Polishchuk:
Rain can destroy the building
All residents of Ukraine whose houses were damaged submit documents for compensation and are waiting for funds. However, a bill to compensate for war-damaged or lost housing has not yet come into force. The Verkhovna Rada plans to submit it for consideration before the second reading before the end of summer. That is, until there is a state mechanism, compensation from the state is impossible.
In order to apply for funding to the state, you need to provide project estimates. According to the residents of the house, it will cost 50 thousand hryvnia. All these expenses must be paid by condominiums, that is, the co-owners themselves. Residents of the house also turned to the Ukrainians for help.
We are asking everyone to help us. We hope that people will hear us and in this way we can do something before winter. Nobody thought it would be like this. People took loans both for housing and for repairs, paid everything to the last penny. And people don’t have money right now,” he said.
Apartment of a resident of Alexander before and after the Russian invasion/Photo courtesy of Channel 24 website:
The head of the OSMD Sergey, who also lives in this house, said that the building was put into operation in 2021. And before the start of the Russian invasion, 16 families lived here.
The Irpin City Council examined the house at its own expense. According to a preliminary examination, it is suitable for restoration. But it completely damaged the attic floor and partly the third. The overlap between the third and fourth floors is also broken.
The man noted that by the autumn it is necessary to have time to dismantle the attic floor. Then replace the slabs damaged by the fire, and rebuild the fourth floor. Initially, a temporary roof should be installed, because a rainy autumn can damage the building.
