Kyiv City Administration official served suspicion notice for gross negligence that resulted in deaths of civilians unable to access air-raid shelter

Roman Tkachuk, director of the Municipal Security Department of the Kyiv City State Administration, was served a notice of suspicion as part of the case of civilians killed in a Russian missile strike on Kyiv as a result of not being able to access an air-raid shelter.

Source: Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office; Kyiv Police; Kyiv City State Administration

Details: Tkachuk is suspected of gross negligence with grave consequences.

Three civilians, including a young child, were killed, and another seven sustained injuries, in a Russian missile strike on Kyiv’s Desnianskyi district on 1 June 2023. This happened near an air-raid shelter located in a hospital; the shelter’s doors were closed.

During the investigation, it was established that the said shelter is in fact the only civil defence facility in the vicinity of the buildings where the victims of the attack lived. All other shelters indicated on the map of Kyiv shelters and located near the victims’ homes were either nonexistent or locked as of 1 June 2023.

The pre-trial investigation established that the suspect, who has been the director of the Department of Municipal Security of the Kyiv City State Administration since 2018, is personally responsible for his department’s implementation of state policy concerning the protection of civilians in Kyiv.

Tkachuk’s negligence of his official duties, and his failure to oversee the extent to which shelters were maintained and ready for use, are said to have led to the deaths and injuries of civilians who attempted to access one of the shelters; the prosecutors stress that these are the "grave consequences" mentioned in Tkachuk’s notice of suspicion.

During his tenure as the department director, Tkachuk has also failed to identify the needs of the capital’s civilian protection facilities, to propose a budget to tackle issues with Kyiv’s shelters, to set up a body that would oversee civilian defence facilities, and to ensure effective control over the shelters’ maintenance.

As a result, only 3,041 out of 4,655 civilian protection facilities in Kyiv were found to be usable, while the rest were deemed unusable or of limited use. Some of the usable facilities, however, were permanently closed.

Tkachuk is also being accused of failing to take measures in response to the Department of Education and Science of the Kyiv City State Administration’s order from 31 August 2022, which prohibited the admission of people who are not students or employees of educational establishments to shelters located in such establishments during air raids.

According to the investigation, Tkachuk instructed his subordinates to create an online map of Kyiv shelters in order to create a false impression of the effectiveness of his work.

The map, among other things, included information about civilian protection facilities (address, type, owner, contact phone number) that were actually absent or not suitable for use; this was documented by the State Emergency Service.

Prosecutors stressed that Kyiv residents, misled by the information on the map, would seek shelter during air-raids at facilities that did not exist, were closed, or unsuitable, thus endangering themselves.

The Municipal Security Department headed by Tkachuk received more than 400 complaints from Kyiv residents from 24 February 2022 to 1 June 2023, as well as a number of  appeals from the heads of Kyiv’s district administrations. All these were left without a proper response.

The press service of the Kyiv City Prosecutor's Office told Ukrainska Pravda that prosecutors will request the most severe measure of restraint that can be applied in accordance with the requirements of the law for Tkachuk: 24/7 house arrest.

Tkachuk can be sentenced to imprisonment for a term of 2-5 years, disqualified from holding certain public office positions or engaging in certain activities for up to 3 years, and fined 250-750 minimum incomes (before tax).

The official website of the Kyiv City State Administration issued a statement saying that Roman Tkachuk and the Department of Municipal Security are cooperating with the investigation and providing access to the requested documentation.

Background:

• On the night of 31 May – 1 June 2023, three people, including a 10-year-old child, were killed in the capital of Ukraine during a missile attack by the Russian invaders. They tried to access a shelter at a clinic in the Desnianskyi district, but the door was locked.
• Criminal proceedings were initiated in this case, and the government ordered all Kyiv shelters to be inspected.
• On 3 June, the Holosiivskyi Court of Kyiv imposed pre-trial restrictions on the suspects involved in the case of the locked shelter which led to the deaths of three civilians in Kyiv’s Desnianskyi district. The court ordered house arrest for the officials involved, while the clinic’s security guard was taken into custody for two months without bail.
• The Prosecutor's Office explained that they had requested custody for Vadym Moshkin, the guard, and round-the-clock house arrest for the officials because it was the guard who failed to open the door to let people into the bomb shelter.
• On 5 June, Minister of Strategic Industry Oleksandr Kamyshin said that the situation regarding bomb shelters in the capital was critical because half of the shelters inspected were not ready for people to enter.

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