Chernihiv Mayor forbids his subordinates to comment on the repairs of war-affected buildings

Chernihiv City Mayor Vladyslav Atroshenko gave the heads of structural divisions and utility companies a verbal instruction to refrain from public comments regarding the repairs of important city facilities, primarily those that have been targeted by russian troops. This is stated in a report by the communal TV channel "Novy Chernihiv."

At the same time, the Mayor assures that "everything necessary for the city will be done, albeit without loud media coverage."

Roman Holovenko, a lawyer at the Institute of Mass Information, believes that Chernihiv Mayor's approach to the situation is inconsistent and that specific legislation on public access to information must be followed.

"The mayor may order that the heads of the UCs do not give comments to the press about the repaired facilities. But if someone sends a request to access information about whether a certain object has been repaired, this will be a different form of legal relationships. And in order to keep such data secret, it is necessary to file it as classified information according to the results of the three-part test (I do not deny that there may be grounds for this, that is, that the russians may want to strike the repaired objects again). And in general, non-disclosure of information about repairs should apply not only to managers, but also to facility workers, repairmen, etc.," the lawyer explained.

It should be noted that the russian military destroyed 27 (out of 34) Chernihiv schools, 37 (out of 52) kindergartens, 3 (out of 4) hospitals, and the local CHP, water supply, utility enterprises of critical infrastructure were significantly damaged.