Zelensky: Local authorities must ensure round-the-clock accessibility of bomb shelters

A situation where people have died because of a locked bomb shelter must never happen again, and local authorities must ensure the availability and availability of shelters around the clock.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this in a daily address on Thursday, June 1, according to Ukrinform.

Dear Ukrainians!

This long and hard day is coming to an end.

First of all, my condolences to the families and friends of those whose lives were taken by Russia, taken by Russian strikes.

We are doing our best to protect people. There was no such international meeting, no such international negotiations where the issue of air defense for Ukraine was not raised.

But protecting people means protecting them at all levels. Shelters must be accessible. The situation like last night in Kyiv, when people came to the shelter and the shelter was closed, should never happen again. It is the duty of local authorities, a very specific duty, to ensure that shelters are available and accessible around the clock. It is painful to see the negligence of this duty. It is painful to see casualties. And if the duty is not fulfilled on the ground, it is the direct responsibility of law enforcement bodies to bring to justice.

Today, our country, like many other countries, marks Children's Day. But even on this day, the terrorist state took the life of a Ukrainian child. But even on this day, Russia shelled our cities - from Kharkiv to Kherson, from Kyiv to Donbas. But we used this day to the maximum to bring the terrorists' defeat closer. And this day has become a time when we are bringing Russia's accountability – accountability of every murderer, every terrorist – closer.

This morning, our Ukrainian delegation was in Moldova for the Summit of the European Political Community. This is the center of political discussions on our continent now. We had very important negotiations. The President of Moldova and the President of France, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the President of the European Commission, the President of Romania and the Prime Minister of Portugal, the Prime Minister of Albania and the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, the Prime Minister of Italy, the Prime Minister of Spain, the President of Switzerland, the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, the President of Azerbaijan, the Chancellor of Germany.

There was also an expanded format with representatives from the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, UK, Poland and Belgium. And, of course, there were meetings on the sidelines of the Summit and a joint meeting of all the participants...

We are preparing new defense decisions for Ukraine, including air defense, aviation, and our advance on the ground. We are preparing real political content for the NATO Summit in Vilnius. We are preparing a package of security guarantees for our country on its way to the Alliance. We are doing everything to bring the EU's political decision on membership for Ukraine closer. We are preparing a Peace Summit based on the Ukrainian Peace Formula.

And I thank all the leaders, all the countries that support us on these points. This is not only support for Ukraine, it is support for real security for the whole of Europe.

I would like to thank Mrs. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, for supporting our initiatives to protect our children, to find and return those young Ukrainians who were deported to Russia. We have to return them all, we have to do everything possible and impossible to protect all our people – to the maximum extent possible – from any Russian threats. I am confident that this is possible.

I would like to thank President Michel, President of the European Council, who today held a special security session at the summit.

I would also like to thank Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, for the decision on ammunition for Ukraine – for supporting the allocation of additional 500 million euros for this purpose. Thank you!

Thank you to all our warriors! Thank you to everyone who trains our warriors! Who helps us with weapons! Who provides treatment for our heroes after their injuries! I thank all the rescuers, all our employees of the State Emergency Service and other services who are eliminating the consequences of Russian strikes! Thank you to all the volunteers who help our warriors, our people, our country!

I thank everyone with whom we are walking side by side towards our victory, towards our peace and towards punishment for Russian terrorists.

Glory to Ukraine!