Settlements are not at all adapted for people with disabilities, in particular for wheelchair users, who are becoming more and more numerous due to the war.
Serviceman Andrii Oryshko volunteered for the front in February 2023. During the evacuation of his comrades, the man was seriously injured and is now in a wheelchair. In the summer of 2023, Andriy arrived in Uzhhorod, Suspilne reports.
The man moves through the streets on his own and does not allow passers-by and volunteers to help him overcome high curbs and places where there are no ramps. Andrii is accompanied in Uzhhorod by a volunteer of the public organization "Movement to support the Transcarpathian military" Iryna Samus.
"The city is unprepared, we don't have ramps, we don't have normal roads, there is nothing at all. Let's hope that our government will equip every city for our guys. Because it's really a big problem. Perhaps, they would go out somewhere in the city and walk, and somewhere to gather, and somewhere for coffee, just go to the hairdresser. Even in the same pharmacy, it is very difficult. And it needs to ring the bells," says Iryna Samus.
The chief architect of Uzhgorod Oleh Borshovskyi notes that recently a lot of current work has been carried out on the arrangement of lowering sidewalks at crossings around the city, on the arrangement of ramps along the embankments. According to him, during the war, it is inappropriate to invest in major repairs or in new infrastructure construction.
"There are requirements not only for the pavement itself, but there are also requirements for the slopes of that ramp. The question arises that the objects themselves can be located in the central part, where there are very narrow sidewalks and where it is impossible to place these ramps with slopes and the need to install handrails. Therefore, the question arose about the possibility of installing remote ramps. In addition, we know that the city of Uzhhorod has a historical area. And certain objects in the historical area need to be approached individually," adds Oleh Borshovskyi.
Read also: They can do a lot of trouble: Transcarpathians are warned about a new dangerinto
Do you want to keep abreast of the latest events from the region and beyond? Subscribe to the Telegram channel "Voice of the Carpathians" and be the first to receive the latest information every day!