An expert assessed the reliability of underground parking garages in new buildings as bomb shelters

Modern underground parking garages and basements in newly constructed residential complexes fully comply with safety standards and serve as reliable shelters during air raids. 

Ivan Pereginets, director of the Scientific and Technical Center of the Ukrainian Academy of Construction, stated this in an interview with Ukrainian Radio. 

According to the expert, under current legislation, such underground areas are officially designed as dual-purpose facilities, allowing residents to use them to safely wait out shelling. This information was reported by the publication “Glavkom.”

The expert explained that in everyday life, these ground-floor and basement levels are successfully integrated into citizens’ daily lives as parking lots, storage facilities, or gyms. However, when an air raid alert is sounded, they instantly serve as shelters. The effectiveness and compliance of such underground spaces with all civil defense criteria are carefully monitored and documented by relevant state emergency services.

Only one EU country has a unique system of civil protection and safety shelters.

The first founding meeting of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine’s Shelter Coalition, established at the initiative of Ukraine and Team Europe, took place in Kyiv.