Sochi residents complained about the authorities' refusal to provide them with shelter from drones.

Sochi officials refused to equip a shelter in the basement of a five-story building, citing its non-compliance with standards, but they do not offer any other options for protection against drones, residents complained in appeals to the Investigative Committee and the prosecutor's office. Residents of other areas of Sochi also pointed out the lack of available shelters.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", Krasnodar Krai is regularly subjected to drone attacks. In particular, residents of Krasnodar have repeatedly pointed out the inaccessibility and unsuitability of shelters from drones. For example, on August 9, a resident of Krasnodar complained that during an air raid alert, she could not get to the shelter with her children because it was closed. On August 24, Krasnodar residents reported that during a nighttime drone attack, they could not access the basements designated as shelters. On September 8, citizens again stated that some basements remain closed, and some rooms designated as shelters lack ventilation and a safe exit.

Conversation with municipal officials outraged residents

Residents of house No. 11 on Lesnaya Street in the Sochi microdistrict Blinovo sent collective appeals to the chairman of the Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin, the Prosecutor General's Office, and the FSB.

In their statement, Sochi residents ask for a legal assessment of the actions of the city hall officials and the administration of the Adler district. Residents do not rule out that representatives of the authorities have committed negligence and failed to fulfill their duties to protect the population by not offering citizens equipped shelters in case of an air attack, a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot" reported.

"The only real 'shelter' that the authorities have been able to offer us so far is the advice to stand in the entrance under falling glass and the right to sue if we survive," complained Elena, a mother of three children aged 2 to 6, who attended a meeting with officials on October 23.

On October 23, a field commission from the Adler district administration and the Sochi city management department arrived at the yard of the five-story panel house No. 11 on Lesnaya Street in the Blinovo microdistrict. Later, an official report appeared on the authorities' channels stating that officials inspected the basement and "explained to citizens the requirements of the legislation prohibiting its use as a shelter."

However, for residents, according to Elena, this visit became a "moment of final disillusionment." Residents hoped to receive a clear algorithm for salvation from the authorities, the woman explained.

Calmly replied: 'You can stand in the entrance.'

"Residents were clearly explained that our basement does not meet GOST standards, and it does not meet GOST standards because it is not prepared. [...] There are no suitable shelters at all in our microdistrict. And the representative of the administration, to my direct question: 'Where should I hide with three small children during a drone attack?' calmly replied: 'You can stand in the entrance,'" Elena said.

She emphasized that the entrance of a Khrushchyovka built in the 1970s has thin walls, window openings on each floor, and glazed entrance doors. In the event of detonation or falling debris from a drone, such a "shelter" is extremely unsafe, the woman explained.

According to her, earlier residents tried to demand explanations through the Municipal Management Center of Sochi, but the system responded with a standard reply about "sending information to the authorities," and officials also suggested "signing up for civil defense courses at the district administration."

The basement of the apartment building is closed to residents

Residents hoped to tidy up the basement to use it as a shelter in case of emergencies, said a resident of the apartment building Valery.

They put a lock on the door and declared that the basement is a technical room.

"We were ready to go out for community clean-ups, clear out the garbage, dry the rooms! But as soon as the wave of publications about feces subsided, they put a lock on the door and declared that the basement is a technical room, and it is forbidden for citizens to be there," he told a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot."

A resident of the house Leonid noted that there is a sign on the basement door: 'The key is in the emergency dispatch service of LLC 'UK 'Doverie' at the address: Molokova St., 18/78.'

"Can you imagine this logic? The air raid siren goes off, drones are flying. I have to run two kilometers with my family to Molokova Street through Adler traffic jams for the key, and then run two kilometers back under attack to open the door, which we are still forbidden to hide in!" Leonid shared his outrage with a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot."

"We are simply blocked from all sides. The basement is locked, the keys are on the other side of the district, the entrance is death, and official memos say: hiding in the basements of apartment buildings is prohibited. This is not defense, this is a scam," complained a resident of the house Vera to a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot."

Basements of old houses do not meet the new GOST

The city management department explained in response to residents' appeals that basements are common technical property of the house, must be tightly closed, and the placement of people in them "is not provided for by the project."

"The main trump card of the authorities has become GOST R 42.4.16-2023 'Civil Defense. Underground premises. Classification. General technical requirements,' which comes into force in 2024. Adopted after the start of the special military operation, this GOST effectively made the use of 99% of Soviet-built basements as shelters illegal. But instead of building new quickly erected shelters or modernizing the existing stock, Sochi officials turned a military standard into an official excuse: since the basement does not meet the GOST of 2023, we are not obliged to repair and prepare it," explained a Sochi architect to a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot" on condition of anonymity. The woman noted that she herself lives in a house built in 1960, where there is no shelter.

This standard imposes strict requirements on shelters, confirmed a staff member of a Sochi management company to a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot" on condition of anonymity.

"The thickness of load-bearing prefabricated or monolithic walls must be at least 400 mm, the thickness of reinforced concrete ceilings - at least 200-250 mm. There must be at least two isolated entrances/exits in opposite parts of the building, and there must be a complete absence of transit engineering networks (gas, hot water, high-pressure sewage) that pose a threat in case of damage," he said.

It is easier to demolish all apartment buildings and relocate Sochi residents to new buildings with shelters.

According to him, retrofitting houses built in the 1960s-1980s to meet the GOST of 2023 is an unmanageable task for housing and utilities companies. "It is easier to demolish all apartment buildings, relocate Sochi residents to new buildings with shelters, but there are currently no such constructions," he noted.

Apartment buildings from the 1960s-1980s, which make up about 90% of the entire housing stock in Sochi, were designed at the institute "Sochi Yuzhgiprokommunstroy" exclusively for peaceful purposes, explained architect Irina, who worked at this institute for many years, to a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot."

The projects did not foresee military operations on the territory of the resort.

"Stalinki, panel Khrushchyovkas, and Brezhnevkas were built to solve the acute housing problem. The projects did not foresee military operations on the territory of the resort, and the basements there are small technical undergrounds with a height of 1.6-1.8 meters with a network of communications. Demanding compliance with GOST 2023 from them is nonsense. But modern new buildings built after the 2000s by commercial developers were also not designed as protective structures. As a result, the entire city is unprotected," the architect noted.

The lack of shelters worries residents of other microdistricts

Similar problems with shelters are observed, according to Sochi residents, in houses on other streets. "We are told from the podium about safety, while the basements in our houses are locked with three locks," complained pensioner Olga Dubovik to a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot."

"We are elderly people, we won't run far with sick legs. We have been promised for years that our houses will be included in some registers of shelters, but in fact, we have no chance of saving ourselves if a drone comes," confirmed her acquaintance, pensioner Galina Karaseva from Chaikovsky Street.

A legal assessment of the situation was given by lawyer Elena Pavlova. "We are witnessing a classic imitation of vigorous activity aimed at relieving themselves of any responsibility. The authorities visit the sites, make photo reports, and then refer to the Housing Code and GOST 2023, stating: 'We would be happy, but the law does not allow us to use these basements.' At the same time, officials publicly remain silent about the fact that Article 18 of Federal Law No. 68-FZ 'On the Protection of the Population and Territories from Emergencies' directly obliges local self-government bodies to ensure the protection of citizens. Shifting this responsibility onto the residents themselves and the advice to 'go to court' after a bombing is legal nihilism," the lawyer told a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot."