Presidential decree #353/2023 of June 26, 2023, and Cabinet order #567-p of June 27, 2023 

Decision-makers: the President and the Cabinet 

Who is affected: the mayor of Kyiv, military command authorities, local councils in Zaporizhzhia and Sumy oblasts, Zhytomyr, Bila Tserkva, and Konotop raions, the cities of Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Sumy, and Dnipro, the Cabinet of Ministers, and the President. 

Summary of the decree and the order: 

  • the President: 
  • the work on maintaining bomb shelters in Zaporizhzhia and Sumy oblasts, Zhytomyr, Bila Tserkva, and Konotop raions, cities of Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Sumy, and Dnipro is recognized unsatisfactory 
  • the Cabinet of Ministers, regional military administrations, the Kyiv City Military Administration, and local councils are ordered to take urgent steps to hold responsible parties accountable 
  • the Cabinet of Ministers is ordered to submit amendments to the Criminal Code, the Code on Administrative Offences, and other laws to introduce penalties for improper maintenance, operation, or impeded access to bomb shelters by July 31 
  • in response to the presidential decree, the Cabinet of Ministers did the following: 
  • the heads of Zhytomyr, Konotop, and Bila Tserkva raions, Desnianska, Dniprovska, Podilska, and Sviatoshynska district administrations in Kyiv city are dismissed 
  • the mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko, the head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, the heads of Pecherska, Holosiivska, Obolonska, and Solomianska district state administrations in Kyiv city were reprimanded. 

What is right: individuals who have failed their duty to maintain the proper conditions and unimpeded access to bomb shelters were held responsible. 

What is wrong: 

  • the President has no authority to order local self-government bodies to punish anyone 
  • a reprimand to Vitali Klitschko, who is both the mayor of Kyiv and the head of the Kyiv City State Administration. He is the head of the Kyiv City State Administration because he is the mayor of Kyiv, so this reprimand can be interpreted as pressure on local self-governance in the capital 
  • the state failed to implement its policy on preparing shelters and bomb shelters: even after almost a year and a half since the beginning of the large-scale invasion, shelters are not ready for use. Moreover, the issue was seriously raised only in the aftermath of the tragedy in the Desnianskyi district of Kyiv when several people were killed. 

Alternative solution: to separate the positions of mayor of Kyiv and head of the Kyiv City State Administration. This will allow to remove the influence of the head of the Kyiv City State Administration on the work of local self-governance.