In Kyiv, the kiosks belonging to a soldier and a shoemaker who had been repairing shoes for 36 years were dismantled

In Kyiv’s Darnytskyi District, municipal workers dismantled three kiosks where local business owners had been operating for years. 

Among them was a shoe repair shop, whose owner, Stepan Voznyak, had been in business for 36 years, and a kiosk selling drinking water.

The demolition was reported by Oleksiy Nosivets, a soldier in the Airborne Assault Forces, who also ran a business at that location. According to him, despite attempts to save the kiosks, municipal workers forcibly removed them. The soldier stated that he cannot leave the service to fight for his own business.

He specifically mentioned Stepan Voznyak, an elderly craftsman whose only son went missing this year near Pokrovsk. When the kiosk was dismantled, the man stood there and cried. He had built the structure himself back in 1992 together with a partner. The craftsman did not receive any compensation for the demolished structure, but he has already found new customers outside the city.

Another dismantled kiosk had been selling purified water for over 10 years. During shelling and water outages, lines of 40–50 local residents would form there. Water could be drawn without electricity, and the nearest municipal drinking fountain is located four city blocks away.

Nosivets claims that the business owners had been operating legally for years, but after yet another change in city regulations, they were unable to renew their permits.

Source: Glavkom

In downtown Kyiv, systematic efforts are underway to clear public spaces of structures erected in violation of urban beautification regulations. The work covers the area from the main street to Independence Square.

In Kyiv, near the “Starovokzalna” terminus of the high-speed tram line, municipal services dismantled small architectural forms.