Ukraine and Finland have created a Civil Protection Coalition.

Denys Shmyhal, Prime Minister of Ukraine, announced this.

The new coalition aims to build a system of shelters to protect civilians in Ukraine.

“The city of Helsinki got acquainted with the Merihaka civil defense shelter. In total, there are about 5,500 shelters in Helsinki that can accommodate 900,000 people. This means there are enough places not only for residents but also for visitors. We want to use this experience to build shelters in Ukraine. Together with Finland, we will involve partners in implementing such projects,” the Prime Minister of Ukraine shared.

In August 2022, the President of Ukraine signed a law requiring developers to provide bomb shelters in new buildings.

The new law, adopted by the Verkhovna Rada on July 29, 2022, outlines a change in approaches to forming a system of civil defense facilities.

In particular, when planning and building at the urban planning documentation level at the regional and local levels, the documentation should necessarily contain a section on engineering and technical measures of civil protection, which defines the plan for the development of shelters and ensures citizens’ unhindered access to them.

This law was developed to provide additional measures in the field of construction activities related to protecting the population from explosions, blast waves, and damage by dangerous chemical, radioactive, and biologically dangerous substances.

The law contains the following initiatives:

• consideration of civil protection measures even at the stage of development of construction documentation;
• simplification of the procedure for the transfer of land plots for the construction of bomb shelters;
• mandatory placement of civil defense facilities (shelters, storage facilities, bomb shelters) during the construction of facilities that will be permanently occupied by more – than 50 people or periodically occupied by more than 100 people;
• the need to keep shelters in constant readiness.

The law also stipulates that the state architectural and construction control body can refuse to issue a certificate of readiness of the building for operation, if the developer does not properly fulfill the necessary conditions for the equipment of the bomb shelter.

The new state construction standards DBN B.2.2-5:2023 “Civil Protection Facilities” came into force in November 2023.

According to these norms, residential and public buildings, including schools, kindergartens, and hospitals, must have civil defense and dual-purpose structures designed to protect the population from dangers that may arise as a result of emergencies, military (hostilities), or terrorist acts.