Pensioners in Mykolaiv were asked to pay their neighbors' debts to get the elevator repaired.

Residents of a high-rise building in the Korable district of Mykolaiv have reached out to the city authorities for assistance in repairing their broken elevator.

The appeal was posted on the Contact Center page of the Mykolaiv City Council on the social media platform Facebook.

The letter states that in the stairwell, where 35% of the residents are pensioners facing health issues, as well as individuals with special physical needs, the elevator is out of order. It is noted that pensioners are forced to climb the stairs to reach their apartments. The attached photographs show an elderly woman carrying a jug of drinking water to her apartment.

“We, the older generation, have no other place to turn for help to get the elevator working, so that in these difficult times of our later years we do not suffocate or die on the steps, so that our blood pressure does not rise, our hearts do not skip, and our hands and legs do not fail us.”

The letter also mentions that on November 18, 2024, the residents contacted the utility company KP DEZ “Okean,” and again on January 5, 2025, they reached out to the housing department. However, they were told that to proceed with repairs, they must “pay off the debts of all residents in their stairwell” or take out a loan and handle the repairs themselves.

“We are residents who pay for utilities on time.

For 45 years of operation, it has been the responsibility of the utility services to accumulate funds for repair work.

Now we have been told that we must take out loans and deal with the elevator repairs ourselves, or pay off the debts of all apartment owners in our stairwell (who are abroad), and only then, possibly, we may be included in the list for elevator repairs in 2025,” the appeal states.